
















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Book._ 


COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 




























































DITOR 05’ HALUS JOURNAL OF HEALTH 
















HEALTH AT HOME, 

OR 

HALL’S 

FAMILY DOCTOR: 


SHOWING HOW TO INVIGORATE AND PRESERVE HEALTH, PROLONG LIFE, CURE 
DISEASES, UNDERSTAND THE PHYSICAL CONDITIONS OF MATERNITY, AND 
THE PROPER MANAGEMENT OF INFANTS, AND DISCUSSING THE 
ENTIRE PHYSICAL WELL-BEING OF MAN, WITH A VERY 
LARGE COLLECTION OF THE LATEST AND MOST 
VALUABLE MEDICAL PRESCRIPTIONS. 


O' 



W. W. HALL,* A.M., M.D., 

EDITOR OF hail’s “journal of health,” author of “health by good living,” “sleep,” “bronchitis 

AND KINDRED DISEASES,” ETC., ETC. 


% 

S. M. BETTS & COMPANY, 

HARTFORD, CONN., AND CINCINNATI, OHIO. 

1873 . 




n- 



PREFACE. 


The bite of an insect, a midnight sickness, an accidental poison¬ 
ing, have many times proved fatal while the messenger was sent 
for a physician; when on the kitchen-hearth, in the ice-box, the 
store-room, the dairy, the hen’s nest, the big road, and the spring 
branch there were remedies more available for cure than the 
surgeon’s knife or the physician’s skill; more powerful for good 
than any drug ever taken from the shelf of the apothecary ; but 
no one knew it, and the patient died. A main object of this 
book is to give such information as will enable the most unlet¬ 
tered reader to avail himself promptly of those means for saving 
health and life, which Nature and Providence have thrown broad¬ 
cast around him in wonderful profusion. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, by 
W. W. HALL, M.D., 

In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 





CONTENTS 


PAGE 

L General principles for the cure of disease. 16 

II. Why one remedy may cure many ailments apparently of a radically 

opposite nature. 41 

III. Baths and bathing: the philosophy of their action, their proper em¬ 

ployment, and their extensive efficiency. 69 

IV. The accidents of life and their home treatment. 156 

V. The prevention of sickness and suffering.!.246 

VI. The hair : its nature, growth, cultivation, and preservation.314, 371 


VII. Exercise : its value as a means of preventing sickness and curing dis¬ 
ease, with the best modes of taking it to the highest advantage... 441 

VIII. Maternity, and how to secure a safe and easy delivery of children, 
who shall be sound in health, without deformity, and of a high 
moral character, by specified modes of life preceding and during 


gestation and nursing.504, 538 

IX. Should the sickly marry ?.520 


X. Youthful vice, its nature, philosophy, and radical cure in all cases .. 569 

XI. Infancy: its management from birth and onwards, with minute 
directions about bathing, dressing, feeding, and sleeping, so as to 
escape the ordinary diseases of childhood.598 

XII. The healthful measure of marital indulgence.557, 592 

XIII. Hereditary influence... 623 

XIV. Allopathic prescriptions: the largest in number, the latest and the 

most valuable hitherto published in any book for popular or pro¬ 
fessional reading.... 725 














































INTRODUCTION. 


The sting of a wasp or bee or yellow-jacket has often proved 
fatal within five minutes, when the prompt application of harts¬ 
horn to the wound, and a few drops swallowed with water, 
would have antagonized the poison and saved the life ; but in a 
dozen houses in the country there might not be found a drop ; 
look under the head of “ bites and stings,” and it will be seen 
that a bit of soap or a handful of wood-aslies stirred in a glass of 
water makes a hartshorn substitute in half a minute ; or if there 
be not a wood fire in a mile, a handful of moist earth grabbed 
from the first mud puddle or pond or brooklet’s edge contains 
hartshorn and other curative elements, which, if applied in the 
shape of a poultice, gives instant relief to the sufferer. 

Towards midnight, after the first sleep, the hateful croup usu¬ 
ally fixes its dreadful fangs on the unconscious child. What avails 
it in the country, miles away from a physician or a drug store, 
that this, that, or the other remedy is “ good for ” the disease, when 
neither physician nor remedy could be had for hours ; and all this 
while the mother is in agony, and the infant sufferer clutches its 
throat for breath ! But turn to the proper heading in the book, 
and it will be seen that no medicine known is so potent for cure 
as a boiling tea-kettle and a bit of flannel; or as a lump of ice 
or snow, with a handful of salt, applied to the throat in a silken 
pad or bag. 

The terrible cramp colic, so often fatal before the dawn, can be 
relieved within an- hour with a milk emetic, and flannels wrung 
in boiling water, applied to the stomach. 

Has a child or other member of the household swallowed a rank 
poison ? ' Turn to the article, and it will be seen in an instant that 
the number of poisons and their antidotes are legion ; yet all are 
comprised in two divisions,—those which cause no pain whatever, 
and those which occasion fearful sufferings in the throat; that in 
both cases there are two things to be done: to dilute the poison, 



4 


INTRODUCTION. 

and get it all out of the stomach the earliest moment possible ; the 
painful kind is to be met with drinking warm milk or tepid or 
even cold water, until the stomach can hold no more, then a 
feather or finger in the throat will cause instant and copious 
vomiting ; if there is no pain, then a more speedy method is to 
stir a tablespoonful each of salt and mustard in half a glass of 
water; the instant it reaches the stomach it begins to return, 
bringing everything else with it; and in either case, lest some of 
the poison might be left, go to the hen’s nest, take a fresh egg or 
two or more, and swallow the whites ; or if there is not a cow or 
a hen in fifty miles, do without them; use warm water for the 
milk, and a tablespoonful of flour stirred in half a glass of water, 
and drink down rapidly ; it is a good substitute for the albumen 
of the e^. 

Ou 

It is in such ways an effort is made to instruct the jieople how 
to avail themselves of Nature’s remedies for the cure of disease, 
when neither medicines nor physicians are possible of securement; 
as in the accidents and burnings and mannings in connection with 
railroad travelling and disasters at sea. 

The truth is, with some little understanding of the nature of 
disease, and some little genius for shifts and devices, half the or¬ 
dinary ailments of humanity, in cases where at all curable by any 
human instrumentalities, can be successfully treated on a rock in 
the sea, on an iceberg at the poles, if there is fire, fresh air, and 
water. 

To be sure, it is easier to get rid of our ailments by taking a 
sugar-coated pill, or some rank poison diluted and concealed in a 
glass of whiskey toddy; and there is many a man, who, rather 
than be bothered with a bath or a sweat, or a wet pack, would 
greatly prefer swallowing the bolus of an Allopath, although it 
were as big as a pigeon’s egg, or toy with the pin-head pellets of 
Homoeopathy; hence the book is so arranged as to give a man 
his choice of remedies and modes of cure. But the aim in all 
cases is to set before the reader certain cardinal points. 

First, the nature of the disease. Second, the remedy proposed. 
Third, how that remedy accomplishes the object, that the patient 
may know whether the means used are doing what is wanted 
by the manifestations they are making, and if not, and in order to 
lose not a moment unnecessarily, he may turn his attention to 
some other remedy acting in a like manner, or he may adopt some 


INTRODUCTION. 


expedient presented to liis own mind, which might produce the 
desired effect; indeed, it is in this way that some of the most 
valuable methods of cure ever devised have in a sense been acci¬ 
dentally fallen upon by the necessities of some extraordinary 
emergency, wherein the most proper thing to be employed was 
not at hand. In these ways it is hoped the book will be more ser¬ 
viceable to the public at large than any of its predecessors. 

There is a single idea in the article on “ Congestion” which will 
at once clear from the mind at least one-half of the 

MYSTERY OF MEDICINE, 

and show how it is possible for one remedy to cure a hundred 
diseases. A house may be set on fire in many different ways ; the 
effect of the fire is one, destruction ; the remedy is one, water. 
Congestion may be brought about in a hundred different ways, in 
a hundred different parts of the body, giving rise to a hundred 
different diseases or symptoms; but the cause is one, congestion. 
The one thing to be done is the removal of that congestion ; what¬ 
ever does that will cure, if applied in time, whether it be by gen¬ 
eral hygienic measures, or by pure air, cleanliness, exercise, and 
rest, or by hydropathic means, or the surer and more direct 
allopathic instrumentalities, as, for example, by the use of the 
“ Liver Pill,” which all are instructed how to make, and which is 
destined to save multituds. 

The uninformed reader will be surprised to learn the. curative 
virtues of some of the most familiar things in any common house¬ 
hold ; and surely it is the duty of all, especially of those who live 
in out-of-the-way places, to acquaint themselves with at least 
some of these, for in many instances it would be to the saving of 
human life. 

Take, for example, the varied uses of a good article of hog’s 
lard. Two or three folds of woollen flannel dipped in hot hog’s 
lard will most promptly remove the pain or swelling from the 
bite of hornet, wasp, or bee. 2. Warm, fresh, unsalted hog’s lard 
is one of the very best things to dislodge any live insect from the 
ear. 3. A quarter of a p>int of warmed 1 rd drank every fifteen 
minutes before breakfast, will sometimes dislodge a tape-worm, 
head and all. 4. Hog’s lard rubbed well into a swollen limb, 
with the'hand, patiently, often removes the swelling and any 


6 


INTRODUCTION . 


deep-seated pains attending them. 5. Half a pint of hog’s laid, 
taken on three successive mornings, has relieved cases of the most 
obstinate and unmanageable constipation, even when croton oil 
and injections had failed. ,0. If the skin, in scarlatina, is daily 
well rubbed with hog's lard or bacon rind for ten days, it will al¬ 
lay the heat of the skin, remove the soreness of the throat, lessen 
the risk of dropsy, and prevent the spreading of the disease, by 
confining to the body those small solid particles, which, otherwise 
escaping from the skin, would be breathed into the lungs of others 
and swallowed into their stomachs, and thus infect the blood. 7 . 
The intolerable itching which attends erysipelas is mitigated and 
entirely controlled by persistent inunctions with hog’s lard. 8. 
Persons who work in woollen factories, where the material has to 
receive hog’s lard on it before it can be worked up, are remarka¬ 
bly exempt from consumptive disease, while those who live in cot¬ 
ton factories are specially liable to it. 9. Inunctions daily and 
abundantly of the parts of the skin infected with itch will cure 
almost any ordinary case. 10. The night sweats of consumption 
are often modified and sometimes removed by rubbing hog’s lard 
into the skin every night, if sleeping in the same woollen night¬ 
shirt, which becomes impregnated with the oil. 11. There is no 
remedy which affords more instantaneous relief from the effect of 
swallowing acrid poisons than drinking hog’s lard, which not only 
soothes the scalding heat in the throat, but dilutes the poison in 
the stomach, and by continuing to drink it until the stomach is’ 
full, a feather in the throat will bring it all up, poison and all. 
12. And how could you make doughnuts without hog’s lard ? Here, 
then, are a dozen most valuable remedial agencies found in the 
varied applications of hog’s lard. Surely it is well to know these 
things, and any book must be valuable, a main object of which is 
to utilize things which are most commonly at hand, with a view 
to alleviate pain, restore health, and save life. 

A young man in a farmer’s family accidentally dropped an 
open penknife, which struck the arm of a little girl play in on 
the floor. The blood flowed alarmingly fast; the father mounted 
a horse, and rode at full speed for the nearest physician, who 
lived five miles away, to find that he had started an hour before 
to go ten miles in an opposite direction, to visit a patient who was 
in a dangerous condition, and was not expected to return until 
next morning. A message was left, and in the most dreadful 


INTRODUCTION. 


7 


apprehension and suspense the father turned his face homeward. 
Meanwhile the little child had bled to death; the mother was 
thrown into convulsions, and expired. On learning the facts as 
he entered the house at nightfall, the father went through into 
the garden, threw himself into a well, and was drowned. 

If a common handkerchief had been tied loosely about the 
arm, above the wounded artery, a stick run through between the 
handkerchief and the skin, and twisted round tightly, the bleed¬ 
ing would have been stopped in sixty seconds, and the child 
saved ; but nobody in the house knew this. 

It is to provide families and individuals with such knowledge 
as will enable them to act efficiently under the emergencies of 
sickness or accident, that this book is written, and also for the 
wiser few who, from a sense of duty and intelligent principle, 
make it a point to inform themselves of the best means of pre¬ 
serving health ; and to that other class, less fortunate, but larger 
by infinity, who by ignorance or carelessness have lost that 
health. 

To the former, this book will be an encouragement and a coun¬ 
sellor. To the latter, a safe guide. But both are earnestly ad¬ 
vised, as a means of comprehending the whole scope of this vol¬ 
ume, to read and re-read, with a patient and wise care, the articles 


ON CONGESTION, AND PRINCIPLES OF MEDICAL PRACTICE, 

which may give the mind such a clear idea of the essential nature 
of disease, of its oneness, of the value of medicine when judiciously 
administered, and of the simplicity of its operation, that its prac¬ 
tice will ever after be considered, not a guess-work, not a feeling 
in the dark, not an incomprehensible agency, but a power, acting 
on fixed principles in nature with encouraging frecpiency, with a 
gratifying efficiency, and a gladsome result. 

It is intended, as far as practicable, to give the one or two dis¬ 
tinctive symptoms of each disease, to enable the reader to clearly 
ascertain what it is, leaving out the many symptoms which, al¬ 
though of more or less importance, are yet common to a variety of 
ailments; hence their enumeration would but hinder the mind in 
coming to a satisfactory decision as to the real nature of the sick¬ 
ness, instead of helping to that result; while the time lost in coming 
to a conclusion, and the hesitancy involved in employing remedies, 


8 


INTRODUCTION. 


with a feeling of uncertainty about their applicability, may occa¬ 
sion a loss of time and opportunity which in some cases would be 
fatal to the patient. 

The general plan of the book is to enable the person who con¬ 
sults it to decide just what is the matter, what is the nature of the 
disease, what are the most appropriate remedies at hand, how they 
are intended to act, and in what way they are expected to yield 
desirable results. 

The reader is first instructed as to the best means of relieving 
and curing his ailments without medicine ; if prompt and favor¬ 
able results do not follow, then to employ such as the 

OLD-SCIIOOL ALLOPATHIC PHYSICIANS 

have found to be most available in the course of centuries in the 
hands of eminent educated men; at the same time, in several 
cases of common diseases, the remedies employed by those who fa¬ 
vor the water-cure treatment are named, for there can be no doubt 

' V 

that the judicious employment of cold and warm water in the 
treatment of disease is very efficacious. The principles of 

HYDROPATHISTS 

in reference to cleanliness, dress, air, exercise, sunshine, the use 
of fruits, of coarse bread made of the material of the whole 
grain, whether of wheat, corn, rye, or oats, merit the approbation 
of intelligent men; but the Old School practitioners have always 
taught these things. There is virtue also in 

HOMOEOPATHY. 

Hence reference is made in some cases to their practice, for Allo¬ 
pathic physicians in all ages have made it an invariable rule to use 
any means and any remedies which, after a fair experiment, have 
been found to be uniformly successful; but, to be adopted, they 
must stand the test of repeated trials in every variety of circum¬ 
stances and for a series of years ; on the other hand, they are slow 
to discard a valuable remedy, and, in spite of an occasional failure, 
continue to use it with confidence. 


INTRODUCTION. 


9 


THE GREAT REMEDY. 

In nearly all forms of sickness, except cholera, diarrhoea, and 
dysentery, relief is obtained, and the foundation for a permanent 
cure is laid, by securing a full and free evacuation of the bowels, 
which may be done in half an hour by the administration of an 
enema of milk-warm water, or within two hours by giving a table¬ 
spoonful or two of Epsom salts or castor-oil. A more deep-search¬ 
ing, efficient, and certain relief is obtained by the purgative pills. 
But if the patient is not pressed for time, desires to avoid medicine, 
and prefers to get well with the least shock to the system, and with 
the greatest promise of permanency, it is unquestionably safe to 
adoot the following course :— 

■i. 

First, Give the whole skin a thorough washing with white soap 
and warm water. 

Second, Secure a well-ventilated room, into the windows of 
which the sun shines most of the dav. 

%J 

Third, Eat nothing whatever from noon until next morning, 
drinking meanwhile as much cold water or hot tea as may be 
agreeable. 

Fourth, Eat thrice a day, at not less than five hours interval,— 
nothing whatever between,—as much as is wanted of fresh butter, 
cold, coarse bread, berries, fruits, melons, tomatoes, and boiled 
rice ; not over three articles at the same meal, and no fluids within 
half an hour. 

Fruits, berries, and melons are most efficient remedies when in 
their natural state, fresh, ripe, and perfect; if preserved, those in 
glass vessels are safest., 

If the principles of treatment just named were promptly carried 
out in the common forms of sickness, half the ailings of humanity 
would be cured, if curable by any means ; but the masses procras¬ 
tinate, and seem to prefer to eat, and physic, and die; for such of 
those who, for want of means, or from distance, cannot promptly 
obtain the aid of an educated medical practitioner, this book has 
been written. 


10 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR 


PRELIMINARIES. 

No regular systematic order is pursued in the treatment of the 
various subjects* discussed in these pages, for this is often tedious 
to the reader; besides, if two diseases, nearly allied, such as two 
different kinds of fever, are brought side by side, the unprofes¬ 
sional student would, in reading the two, be likely to become con¬ 
fused, and find himself unable to decide satisfactorily what the 

ailment under investigation was. 

Nor has reference been made to differences of opinion among 
educated physicians as to special points of theory and practice, 
for these differences are often mere shades not more diverse than 

“ Tweedle dum and tweedle dee.” 

Then again, such discussions take up time and space unneces¬ 
sarily, will inevitably unsettle the mind of the common reader, 
and after all, in very many cases of such diversity, there exists 
no difference whatever in the principles of treatment; most gene¬ 
rally it is in the vigor of its application—in giving a little more 
or less of the same medicine. 

One advantage of this line of procedure is, that in studying 
the nature of a particular disease, the mind has a single object 
in view, hence can the more readily give its undivided attention 
to a thorough investigation, and will thus be better able to arrive 
at a proper comprehension of its real character, its true nature, 
and its actual requirements. There is another incalculable ad¬ 
vantage in this promiscuous discussion of subjects: many things 
can be treated which would come under no particular heading, 
and yet are of the very first importance in the promotion of 
the comfort, convenience, health, and well-being of families remote 
from cities and large towns, and also from reliable sources of 
information. For example, in the article on Accidents reference 
is made to the sufferings, torture, and terrible deaths by burning, 
from the explosion of kerosene lamps; occasion is there taken to 
explain how any person of very common intelligence might ascer¬ 
tain with absolute certainty whether the specimen of kerosene in 
the house could explode by any possibility. Look, again, at the 
article on 


PRELIMINARIES. 


11 


SHAVING, 

which could not readily be brought under the heading of any 
disease or subject pertaining to health, and yet the information 
imparted is of prime importance to every man who shaves, for it 
not only tells how to manage the razor and strap and brush in a 
way to afford a comfortable shave, but how, in the easiest manner 
possible, to guard most effectually against the possibility of becom¬ 
ing a victim to that loathsome affection, the 

barber’s itch. 

The manner in which the explanation of medical terms may be 
used to elevate the style of conversation in reference to health and 
disease, is worthy of special attention. The reader has only to 
look to the index for the common name or for the scientific 
name of any medicine or plant or disease; one refers to the 
other, and thus a most grateful sense of satisfaction results. For 
example, very few might know what “ mountain tea ” was, pro¬ 
claimed to be a certain cure for cancer, yet under the name of 
“tea-berry,” or of “wintergreen,” or of “pipsissewa,” it becomes 
most familiar, and a farmer could, in half an hour’s walk, get 
enough to load a wagon, thus saving him the trouble and expense 
of writing to the city, or to some more learned person than him¬ 
self, to know what “ mountain tea ” was, how much it would cost, 
and how it could be sent; meanwhile days and weeks and months 
might elajise, and life itself might pass away. 

In reading any page, if a phrase or term is not known, or if more 
definite or extended information is desired, look to the general 
index for that term, and on referring to the page a full explana¬ 
tion of it will be given, and so of the medicines advised. 

It will be observed that comparatively few medicines are 
brought to notice, and these are of the most familiar and com¬ 
mon kind, easily obtained at an ordinary village drug store. They 
are thus common because the most of them have been used for 
ages, and have been found serviceable and reliable by successive 
generations of distinguished medical men ; for example, calomel, 
blue mass, rhubarb, opium, salts, castor-oil, ipecac, tartar-emetic, 
aloes, quinine, hartshorn, and a few others are representative 


12 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


medicines of their class ; they are the great standbys; with them, 
comparatively speaking, everything can be done ; without them, 
nothing; not that there are not remedies .which, to some extent, 
and even quite efficiently, might accomplish all they do under 
favorable circumstances, but it never can be told whether they 
will or not. Some of them will do what is desired, if fresh and 
well prepared (this is specially true of all extracts and vegetable 
remedies) ; but if not well and carefully prepared, or if old, they 
are worthless, and that cannot be known until they have been 
given and their effects vainly looked for. Meanwhile time is lost, 
even life itself. No intelligent man wants to be trifled with in 
this way. All the medicines above named will keep many years 
without any deterioration whatever—are as good at the end of 
twenty years as on the day they were purchased; hence supplies 
can be obtained to any extent desired, or carried any distance, 
and their virtues can be relied on ; besides, they occupy but little 
space, and the whole cost for the use of an ordinary family for 
half a lifetime need not exceed half a dozen dollars, and above 
all with the inestimable advantage of certainty of effect. 

These medicines, either alone or in combination, if judiciously 
administered, will accomplish everything that is really necessary 
and safe, that all other medicines together can: they will purge, 
they will tonify; they will deplete, and they will build up; they 
will cool, and they will warm; they will soothe, and they will 
sweat; they will break down a fever, and disperse a chill ; and 
there is scarcely a pain possible to the human frame which they 
will not alleviate or wholly remove. 

Not that there are not many other valuable medicines which 
may accomplish similar things; but it is with those named as 
with a set of tools,—a good workman can make anything, from a 
box to a bureau, with an axe, a saw r , a hammer, and a chisel ; lie 
could do it with a whole chest of tools with more elegance, but 

O 7 

they are not indispensable. Besides, many medicines have virtues 
attributed to them which they cannot fairly claim; in truth, 
there is a fashion in medicine as there is in tailoring,—a running 
round in the course of years to the same cuts and styles. Some 
medicines are discarded for an age ; then an enthusiastic youth 
brings them into notice, and they “have a run.”' The moun¬ 
tain-tea of to-day, for which thousands have been inquiring with 
so much eagerness, for the cure of cancer, was greatly praised for 


PRELIMINARIES. 


13 


its virtues seventy years ago, by one of the eminent names in medi¬ 
cine ; but it failed to answer the expectations of subsequent experi¬ 
ments, and for half a century it was of no special importance. 
Perhaps the only advantage of a great variety of medicines is 
that some are more readily taken by fastidious patients than others. 

Then again, in employing the great mass of remedies on the 
shelves of the apothecary, they being generally mild in their action 
and slow in their effects, they have to be taken frequently, several 
times a day, and for a long time, before decided effects for good 
manifest themselves; and then it is easy to slide into the most 
pernicious practice of taking something every day, and this is the 
actual result in many thousands of families; not a day, by any 
chance passes, in which some one or more of them is not taking 
medicine of some kind or another; brought about in large part 
by the extensive advertisements of patent medicines, which are 
asserted, with such positiveness, to cure the worst cases of the ail¬ 
ments to which they apply ; and yet, these families fail to see, with 
the every-day fact staring them in the face, that the more medi¬ 
cine they take, the more they have to take, and yet, withal, they do 
not get well. 

Another aid to this large consumption of medicine and its fre¬ 
quent use is found in the practice of Homoeopathy. There is no 
pain or symptom or irregular feeling possible to humanity, no 
condition of body, no state of mind which is not natural or health¬ 
ful, for which a remedy is not presented. Whether the symptoms 
be fixed or evanescent, whether severe or scarcely perceptible, 
the globules are resorted to, with the inevitable effect of 
nurturing the habit of taking something for everything. If, 
for example, a man is angry, furious, he must take cham¬ 
omile. If there is fright with his anger, aconite is better. If 
an anger which makes the cold chills run over him, arsenic is 
more appropriate. If he gets mad and keeps mad, that is, becomes 
sulky, then bryonia is the champion. But suppose it is an anger 
which cherishes itself with a silent grief, and the person goes away 
to some lonely spot and broods over the case by the hour, then 
ignatia will make him all right. If, on the other hand, it is a petu¬ 
lant anger where everything done to appease only makes the mat¬ 
ter worse, then he must have mix vomica, a virulent poison ; but if 

he is so fearfully incensed as to threaten insanity,veratrum album is 

«/ 

the sure deliverer from the threatened mad-house 


14 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


JEALOUSY. 

If a man is jealous, vehemently so, he must take hyoscyamus ; 
but if to such an extent that he may become insane, then the 
most appropriate globule is lacliesis. 

UNFORTUNATE LOVE. 

If a young man is in such an uncomfortable position that lie 
cannot get his sweetheart to love him, or the old folks won’t let 
her marry him, and he is about to jump into the river, he should 
take aur. If he is jealous, and is only happy when he is talking 
about it to somebody, hyoscyamus will help him. If he is pining 
away into his grave, then ignatia mara is the cure-all. But if he 
goes farther, and is about to give up all life, he must speedily 
resort to repeated doses of sacli. If he is rapidly becoming a 
skeleton, nothing but skin and bone, with night sweats, then he 
must take acid phos. But if he is really a worthy youth, of high 
character and unexceptionable morals, goes to church, teaches 
Sunday-school, and always attends prayer meetings, then he must, 
without any delay, if the young lady will not love so much worth, 
take steph. Any one must see that the very best thing for a 
young man to “take,” under such unfortunate circumstances, 
would be a good switching; if a young lady, an out-and-out 
spanking. And so the book goes on, to the length of three 
columns, prescribing for every mental affection, such as anxiety, 
grief, home-sickness, forebodings, rage, and the like ; still there is 
philosophy in this, since states of the mind often induce bodily 
disease, and there may be cases where medication is advisable ; 
but if a person takes medicine for every trifling ailment of body 
or mind, and this medicine has to be taken several times a dav, 
followed up day after day for many days occasionally, the inevi¬ 
table result is, that a day never passes in which a family does not 
have to resort to the medicine chest, and the house is turned 
into a hospital; the conviction that disease is present becomes 
fixed in the mind, and half of life’s joys are eaten out; clouds 
rest where there should be sunshine, and gloom where gladness. 

If medicines have to be taken for mental conditions, the v should 

' c/ 

be such as act promptly, decidedly, and with great efficiency. 


A HEALTH SECRET. 


15 


Three or four tablespoons of castor oil, as much salts stirred 
in a glass of warm water, or the loss of a pint of blood from the 
arm, would, in a single hour or less, revolutionize the whole cir¬ 
culation, and make the entire mental atmosphere as clear as a bell. 
Still, a far better method than these would be to diminish the 
amount eaten and drank at least one-half, and spend the time be¬ 
tween after breakfast and sundown in vigorous walking or horse¬ 
back exercise; and still better, in steady, continuous, productive 
labor. These things, either of them, would inevitably not only wake 
up a better circulation, but would wear out of the system those 
humors and poisonous particles which were the cause of these 
mental and bodily conditions, so antagonistic to health and the 
enjoyment of life. 

There are many cases of mental disturbance which could be hap¬ 
pily rectified, not by pellets and potions, not by idle exercise, or by 
laborious and more productive employment, but by a higher and a 
really ennobling pastime—simply going out and doing somebody a 
good deed, or a kind act; a visit to the degraded, to the poor, to the 
sick, to those in great misfortune, and with a will to alleviate 
sorrow, to heal and to cheer, combined with the feeling of thank¬ 
fulness which should arise from this opportunity of comparing 
the conditions of the helper and the helped, would have the 
tendency to change for the better the whole mental state of 
the chief actors in works like these ; at other times a short visit to 
a cheery neighbor—one brimful of frolic and fun—would scarcely 
fail of highly beneficial results. 

But after all, the short sharp rule for those who suffer from 
mental disturbances ; for the nervous, for the highly imaginative 
c l ass — an d it is a large, a very large one—who are prone to magnify 
the slightest mishaps, trials, and inconveniences to mountainous 
proportions, is to 

BE BUSY, 

to be fully employed, to have every hour filled up,—so busy, in 
fact, as not only to have no idle time, but to be a little pushed ; 
these are the happiest people, these are the healthiest, these are 
the fortunate and honored ones, who keep the world moving; 
a. prescription this, which, in a vast variety of cases, in a great 
majority of cases, will be more efficient than any medicine of the 
apothecary, whether pellet, pill, or potion. 


16 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


PRINCIPLES OF MEDICAL PRACTICE. 

\ 

All diseased conditions arise from one great cause, an unequal 
circulation of the blood in the whole body, or in some part of it, 
at times not larger than the head of a pin : the severest torture of 
toothache and neuralgia is the result of the deranged condition 
of the circulation at some one point along the nerve of that part. 

On the other hand, good health is the result of a natural, equable 
distribution of the blood to every portion of the human system. 

The highest effect of medical practice in the dispersion of dis¬ 
ease and the recovery of health is directed towards equalizing 
the circulation ; lessening it if too rapid, as in inflammation ; 
hastening it if too slow, as in shivering or chills, and other forms 
of suffering. For example, if a part is burning with fever, it is 
because too much arterial blood is sent to that part, and with too 
great rapidity ; hence we cut it off by gently bathing it with cold 
water, which invites the blood to a slower motion, and the man is 
well, for the fever has disappeared. 

If the feet are cold it is because the blood is ceasing to circu- 
late, is losing its life and heat; we put them in warm water, 
this heats the blood, invites a more vigorous flow, and soon all is 
well again. 

If you can bring warmth to a cool part, or cool a portion of 
the system which is in a fevered condition, you cure all the 
diseases which arise from too much cold or too much warmth. 

Another condition of disease is where a very large amount of 
arterial or red blood is carried to a limited portion of the body, 
to the eye for example, or to the brain. We call this inflam¬ 
mation of the brain, and the man soon dies, unless relief is ob¬ 
tained ; unless the eye is relieved the sight is soon lost. The 
most instantaneous method of relief in such cases is to place the 
patient in a chair, or set him up in bed, open a vein in the arm, 
and let the blood run until he is about to faint, and the man is 
safe for the hour, and proper treatment afterwards establishes the 
safety, because the whole amount of blood in the body is dimin¬ 
ished that much; the blood to each particular part is dimin¬ 
ished that much; and by this diminution in the diseased part— 
diseased because there was too much blood there—there is a re¬ 
turn to the natural condition of healthful circulation; if actual 

• * 





The Heart and its Circulation. 


Column' 

































PAIN REMEDIES. 


17 


faintness is induced the whole flow of blood to the diseased part 
is arrested, giving that part perfect relief and perfect rest for thfc 
time being. But suppose there is a diseased condition resulting 
to a part because there is too much blood in the veins instead of 
the arteries; then there is no redness, as in the arteries, because 
the blood of the veins is dark-eolored; then the part is dark-col¬ 
ored, as in the result of a blow; or there is no blood, as in the 
paleness of cold; and instead of the sharp pain of rapidly mov¬ 
ing arterial blood there is the dull hurting of slow moving ve¬ 
nous blood, so slow sometimes as almost to stop. 

But whether the pain is sharp or dull, it is the result of too 
much blood being there; and in proportion as a remedy lessens 
the amount of blood by taking it away from the spot,* out and 
out, as with leeches, or by inviting, the excess of blood a short 
distance away to some point which, being in health, can better 
bear that excess, in such proportion do we give relief. A mus¬ 
tard plaster, for example, placed over the spot of an internal 
hurting, draws the blood to the surface, and relief is almost in¬ 
stantaneous. 

But relieving pain and scattering disease and restoring health 
by the immediate extraction of blood from the part, although 
efficacious and instantaneous, is liable to abuse and to other ob¬ 
jections; hence we come to the use of internal remedies, which 
are called drugs or medicines, accomplishing the same object, but 
in a more roundabout way, not so speedily but more enduring, 
and \tfith less harm in several directions. 

As the point to be arrived at is to lessen the amount of blood 
in the diseased part, the only thing necessary to be. done is to- 
lessen the amount of fluids in the whole system, and this is to 
lessen the amount of blood, for all these fluids are made out of the 
blood; and to that extent the whole amount of blood is lessened 
as effectually as if by the lancet. 

A boil, just ready to burst, gives intense suffering; lance it, 
and allow a few drops of the yellow matter to flow out, and relief 
is instantaneous ; give a cathartic medicine in almost any bodily 
* pain or suffering, as two or three tablespoons of castor-oil, or two 
or three tablespoons of Epsom salts dissolved in a glass of water, 
and in a few hours several pounds of fluid are discharged from 
the body, affording in very many cases a most welcome relief. 

Sometimes a more speedy deliverance is effected by the use of 
2 


18 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


an enema, .which, see, or “ Rectal Bath,” for this unloads the 
system of a large amount of solid matter, sooner than salts or 
oil. 

There is a gentler, safer, and more permanent relief from bodily 
suffering, as a result of too much blood being in any particular 
part, but is not so expeditions; it is by giving medicines which 
are said to “ act on the liver,” stimulate it, make it work (see 
Liver and Biliousness); this is because a large part of the blood 
of the body passes through the liver, and while it is in, its 
quantity is largely diminished by being used to make bile, which 
is passed directly into the bowels and out of the body, hence a 
great deal more blood enters the liver than leaves it in the 
shape of blood; thus any medicine, any remedy which makes the 
liver work more actively, in thus making bile, diminishes the 
quantity of blood in the body, and gives great relief. 

But suppose the liver becomes so full of blood, its blood-chan¬ 
nels clogged up, preventing any blood from passing along, then 
this large escape of fluid from the system is arrested, the evil of 
overfulness increases every moment, and every moment aggravat¬ 
ing pain and intensifying the diseased condition. 

The reader has now a complete idea of the principles of the 
practice of medicine in the treatment of disease and pain and 
suffering. It is narrowed down to the simple points of regulating 
the quality and quantity of the blood: if it is too thick, it will 
not run out; it clogs the machinery, it clams up the stream, 
arrests the flow, and that is death. If there is too much blood, 
there is distention of the blood-vessels: they carry too much blood 
to a part, and disease and pain attack that part, to disorganize and 
-destroy it effectually, unless relief is obtained. 

But there is another way of lessening the amount of blood in 
the body, far better than any one, or all, mentioned above. Bleed¬ 
ing is depressive and in other ways objectionable. The use of 
mustard plasters and setons and blisters is inconvenient and 
painful. To give violent cathartics, or even more moderate pur¬ 
gatives, is troublesome, nauseous, and otherwise disagreeable. In 
most cases better headway can be obtained and more human lives 
saved if an attempt is made in all cases to diminish the amount 
of blood, and equalize the circulation by 


DIET AND EXERCISE. 


DIETING. 


19 


• All the blood is made out of what we eat; every mouthful of 
food taken makes that much more blood, and is used in no other 
way than to make ’blood. If, then, there is too much blood in 
the whole body, or in any part of it, causing disease or suffering, 
we begin at the very foundation by refusing to make any more 
blood; by refusing to eat an atom; and as each grown person 
eats and drinks several pounds a day, it is readily seen that ab¬ 
stinence from food stops at once the supply of blood. This is the 
medical treatment which blind instinct prompts the brute creation 
to adopt. A sick animal will not eat, or, if at all, most sparingly; 
hence the little disease observed in the animal creation, dying, as 
if does, by violence or age. 

If the supply of blood is stopped in a case of disease by absti-. 
nence from food, the whole amount in the body is necessarily 
diminished, every second of a man's existence, by the ordinary 
laws of the system ; because the glands of the body are in opera¬ 
tion more or less actively every second of our being. Their office 
is to diminish the amount of blood passing through them, as 
above explained as to the liver ; among the glands are the kid¬ 
neys ; they pass off a pound or more every day; the liver an¬ 
other ; the whole skin may be considered a gland, and it passes 
off from the body in twenty-four hours, in the shape of visible 
and invisible perspiration, another pound or two of matter; then 
there are other places of discharge, the ears run wax, the eyes 
run water, the nose runs quite an amount in twenty-four hours ; 
hence a man not eating or drinking anything for a whole day 
would necessarily weigh a pound or two 01 mme less, all in the 
shape of fluids, and these fluids being abstracted from the blood, 
the volume of blood is thus diminished several pounds by natuial 
operations which we cannot prevent j nature instincti\ ely conies 
to our aid by actually helping us to a desirable result by taking 
away our appetite, and in some cases making e\ en the sight and 

smell of food nauseating. 


THUS IS DIETING MADE EASY, 

Nature paving the way for the cure. But man may come in turn 
to aid nature in her attempts at cure by the exercise of his better 
reason ; he can hasten the diminution of the quantity of blood 


20 


BALDS FAMILY DOCTOR 


in the system, as a means of relieving himself of suffering and 
disease, by 


MUSCULAR EXERCISE. 

All bodily motion necessarily involves a loss of fluid and solid 
substances; of fluids in insensible and visible perspiration, 
amounting, to a pound or more in twenty-four hours; and of solid 
particles which are worn off by the friction of the muscles and 
other components of the system, as all friction implies waste and 
loss; a hard steel razor loses some of its substance, weighs less 
every time it is drawn along the strap ; otherwise it would not be 
sharpened by the operation. If a knife is sharpened upon the 
edge of a table or bench, it will be very soon seen that the wood 
is wearing away; all rubbing together wears off, detaches parti¬ 
cles ; and when it is remembered that in the human body there 
are several hundred muscles, and bands, and bones, moving on and 
across one another; that the whole thirty or forty feet of the in¬ 
testines are in incessant motion one against another; that the 
heart is always throbbing; that pulses in every jDart of the body 
are beating forever, it must be apparent that there is unceasing 
waste of solid particles, which no sooner are they detached 
than they are hurried along bodily towards the rectum, or the 
great receptacle of the solids of the body; or they are dissolved 
into the minutest particles and are conveyed by the fluids of the 
system into the bladder, and then passed outwards in the urine, as 
seen in the sediment deposited on the bottom of the chambers, 
as a solid substance ; these losses occur day and night, by the in¬ 
cessant motion of parts over which we have no control; these are 
called involuntary motions, and wear off and out of the body a 
pound or more of its substance in a day, although we may remain 
in bed all the time; but when, in addition to these, the voluntary 
actions of the muscles are put in operation, the hands and arms 
and feet and legs, with the various bends of the body, not less 
than two, three, or even half a dozen pounds may be passed out 
of the body in twenty-four hours, thus diminishing very largely 
the amount and bulk of the blood, lessening pain and inflamma¬ 
tion, and returning the body to its healthful condition. Small 
wonder is it then that exercise, work, steady, unhurried labor, has 
such a decided, even powerful effect towards removing every 
variety of disease from the body, bringing back to it health and 


CONGESTION. 


21 


strength, and vigor and activity. Thus there are several distinct 
methods of curing disease, all efficient in their way, and more or 
less in repute by turns in the progress of the ages. 

First. By direct bleeding, using the lancet or leeches. 

Second. By the use of blisters, mustard plasters, irritants, or 
other modes of diverting the blood from the diseased part. 

Third. By the use of medicines which act on the bowels, or 
liver, or skin, as by the employment of castor-oil or salts for the 
bowels, calomel for the liver, and “ sweats ” for the skin, all these 
diminishing the amount of blood in the body. 

Fourth. By ceasing to eat for a season, as food makes blood, 
and ceasing to eat cuts off the supplies, while the necessaiy ope¬ 
ration of the system uses up rapidly what is on hand. Hence, if we 
eat or drink nothing for two or three days, the weight of the body 
is diminished several pounds. 

Fifth. By active exercise we work off and out of the body the 
waste, worn off, useless, and poisonous particles in the system to 
the extent of several pounds every day. 

CONGESTION. 

The doctrine of congestion of the blood is the key which un¬ 
locks the entire system of medical practice, and makes of it a 
harmonious whole, a system which is beautiful in its simplicity, 
its efficiency, and truthfulness. Its literal meaning is a pressing 
together and wedging in, and in this connection applies to the 
circulation of the blood, which comes out from the heart all 
bright and sparkling with warmth and life and vigor, entering 
the largest arteries, which divide and subdivide, getting continu¬ 
ally smaller in their branches until they are almost invisible, e , \ ery- 
where depositing those atoms of nutriment with which it was 
freighted when it. left the heart; and, having thus gone to the 
remotest portions of the body, unloading itself of all its nutriment, 
each infinitesimal ending artery inosculates, joins on to a corre¬ 
sponding vein quite as small, with this difference, the gieat aoita 
as it comes from the heart divides off into lessening branches con¬ 
tinually, until they are immensely numerous and small, the 
volume of blood diminishing all the time, by the amount of nu- 
. trient particles it parts with, all full of life ; the blood-v es^els on 
the other hand, called the veins, get larger and fewer, and more 


22 


nALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


full of blood at every inch of their progress ; this blood, not car- 
rying with it the life of the body, but its death, for it is really the 
washings out of the system, containing its mere refuse, useless, 
impure, and dead particles, so loaded is it with these, that it is 
not sparkling and bright with its cheery and warming red, as in 
the arteries, but it is dark, lifeless, and dead, finally conveyed in 
one single channel, one large vein which empties itself directly 
into the heart, to remain there but a moment, for it is hurried on 
to the lungs, where meeting with the pure air drawn into them, it 
parts with its impurities, hands them over to the air just taken 
into the lungs, which absorbs them and carries them out in each 
expiration, and rising upwards as it passes the lips and nostrils, it 
makes its way to the regions above the head, above the houses, 
above the trees, above the clouds, there to be renovated and made 
full of life again; again to descend to the earth and enter the 
nostrils to repeat its purifications and to impart its life, just as all 
the water of the earth and seas rises to the heavens after use here, 
and is returned to the earth again in its purity, in the shape of the 
refreshing showers and of 

THE BEAUTIFUL SNOW. 

The arteries and veins which convey the blood have thin coats, 
their sides are elastic, distensible, and of a material barely com¬ 
pact enough to convey the blood onwards; but are capable of dis¬ 
tention to an extent that they may become so thin as to be pervious 
to the more watery particles of blood, for blood is a combination 
of blood and water. Not only may the thinner water pass through 
the sides of these distended blood-vessels, if the blood is unnatu¬ 
rally jammed in, but if that jamming is increased, the blood itself, 
thick as it is, will ooze through; and if the jamming continues 
the congestion increases, the sides give way, and there is 

RUPTURE OF A BLOOD-VESSEL, 

Which we know, if in the lungs, endangers life; if in the head, it 
is apoplexy and death. In some great emotions of the mind men 
perspire freely ; it is not the warm, healthful perspiration of ordi¬ 
nary exercise, but of a deathly clamminess; this phenomenon 
was exhibited in the Redeemer’s passion, when " he sweat, as it 


PNEUMONIA. 


23 


were, great drops of blood.” This is the result of a general con¬ 
gestion. This is what is going on in the hour of death when great 
drops of water stand beaded on the forehead; it is seen again 
in the 

, ' T . • 

• * « 

COLLAPSE OF CHOLERA, 

when the whole body seems drenched in a cold perspiration. 
These statements all show that under the influences of 

CONGESTION 

the more fluid particles of the blood come out of the blood-ves¬ 
sels when that congestion is moderate; in an increased degree, 
blood itself coming out. 

These same operations of oozing out go on in every part of the 
system, in every gland of the body, in all its interior operations 
and conditions, giving name to diseases in many cases,.accord¬ 
ing to the degree of the congestion. And it will be of exceed¬ 
ing interest, ,if the intelligent reader is at leasure, to follow 
it out to its legitimate issues in reference to several parts of the 
body. . • • 

Suppose there is a large accumulation of blood in the lungs, we 
call it pneumonia, but it is more commonly known by the more 
appropriate designation of 

CONGESTION OF THE LUNGS. 

• 

There is too much blood in their blood-vessels, they are too full, 
they are so much distended, indeed, that blood itself does actually 
make its way out of the blood-vessels into the lungs themselves, 
not in a stream but in the form of minute particles, oozing 
through the distended sides, a kind of sweating, and mixing 
with the saliva it has the appearance of iron-rust, it is rusty-col¬ 
ored ; this is a distinctive symptom of 

INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS. 

If the veins of the lungs are congested to a high degree, their 
sides ooze out large drops of blood, and we have the expectora¬ 
tion of 


24 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


DARK CLOTS OF BLOOD. 

But when this congestion goes on to a still greater extent the 
sides burst, blood flows into the lungs in a stream, creates a great 
tickling of the bottom of the neck, at the little hollow, and we have 

HAEMORRHAGE OF THE LUNGS. 

In a moderate degree of congestion of the brain there is an 
oozing out of the thinner parts of the blood, and it is called 

WATER ON THE BRAIN. 

If the congestion is more decided, a drop of blood escapes and 
that is death by 

APOPLEXY. 

If there is a moderate congestion along the bowels, there are 
thin, watery passages; we give it the name of 

DIARRHCEA. 

If that congestion becomes more aggravated, blood escapes from 
the distended vessels, and we have 

DYSENTERY. 

If the eye is moderately inflamed it “ watersif the congestion 
becomes more decided a redder fluid appears, and we say of the 
eye that it is 


“ BLOOD-SIIOT.” 

These examples show that ordinary diseases are readily account¬ 
ed for by the doctrine of congestion, which is nothing more nor 
less than an over amount of blood in the veins or arteries of the 
part, and that the severity of attacks of sickness is directly in 
proportion to the degree of the congestion in the small blood-ves¬ 
sels of the parts, either in the veins or arteries, and so it is with 
all classes of fevers, and that long catalogue of complaints con- 


TUBERCLE. 


25 


nected with the varied degrees of congestion of the liver, the 
spleen, and in short the whole glandular system. 

But this same law of congestion holds good in reference to dis¬ 
eases of the throat and lungs. All throat complaints arise from 
a congested condition of the blood-vessels, as will be seen in any 
case by opening the mouth, when it will be found that the whole 
back part of the throat is either of a fiery red, showing that the 
arteries are over-full of blood, or of a dark or dusky hue, indicat¬ 
ing that the veins are congested. 

When there is a high condition of congestion in the throat of a 
child who has taken a severe cold, the more fluid parts of the 
blood ooze out at the sides of the distended blood-vessels, and as 
it oozes out, each particle comes in a drop; this unites with an¬ 
other drop and spreads, then unites with others until there is a 
thin coating all over the inside of the windpipe, almost as evenly 
spread over as if laid on with a brush; but no sooner is this done 
than it hardens, as the gum on the bark of a tree begins to harden 
as soon as it is exposed to the air, and the process of oozing or 
exudation goes on, constantly toughening and thickening, until 
the whole cavity of the windpipe is filled up with it, thus stopping 
the breath, and the child dies. Sometimes before entire closure, 
means are successfully used in detaching that tough leathery sub¬ 
stance, and it comes away in patches, or in some instances has been 
ejected in the shape of the windpipe, or a hollow reed, and the 
child is saved. 

When the lungs become steadily and slowly congested in con¬ 
nection with a cold or cough the thinner part of the blood oozes 
out in drops; these harden, and that is 

TUBERCLE; 

And being allowed to go on, it becomes consumption, the ordi¬ 
nary consumption of the lungs, called Tliyesis by physicians, but 
spelled 

PHTHISIS, 

and is ecpiivalent to the disease which is expressed by the com¬ 
mon people in the country by saying the 


26 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


LUNGS ARE AFFECTED. 

It would deeply interest a few, but would weary the many, to 
go into a minute detail of all the diseases of the human body, 
which could he easily explained by the doctrine of congestion; 
hut that point, in the light of the statements made, being taken 
for granted, it is of great value to trace out the deduction which 
may he legitimately- drawn from the doctrine, and it is wide- 
sweeping. 

If the great majority of all our more familiar diseases arise 
from congestion of the blood-vessels, either the arteries or veins, 
and if this congestion simply means that there is too much blood 
there, relief and ultimate cure consists in diminishing the amount 
of blood, drawing it away or oh from those parts, and this is the 
doctrine of 


DERIVATION, 

In the practice of medicine, which means, strictly, drawing the 
flow from one part to another—from a part that has too much, 
and is weak or painful from that cause, to a part that is healthy 
and thriving, and therefore can bear an excess, at least for a 
while. A very severe pain on the inner walls of the belly will 
be relieved by putting a mustard plaster on the outside, because 
it draws the blood from the inside, which is diseased and suffer¬ 
ing, to the outside, which is not diseased at all. This is curing 
an ailment by Derivation. 

But, as said in another article, the blood can be lessened in 
four or five ways, by the 
Lancet, 

Leeches, 

Dieting, 

Medicines, 

Working. 

But from one cause or another, nine persons out of ten, even of 
the educated and cultivated classes, will, for various reasons, prefer 
to take some medicine which will accomplish the object, as that 
can be done with the least expense of time, and money, and 
trouble. 


PURGATIVES . 


27 


There are three kinds of medicine's advised in these pages to 
be taken for the purpose of diminishing the volume, the amount, 
the weight of the blood in the human body— 

Laxatives, 

Cathartics, 

Purgatives. 

Laxatives loosen the bowels ; they act quickly, and bring away 
a large amount of water—several quarts in a few hours—some¬ 
times thus lessening the amount of blood very rapidly: among 
these are salts, castor-oil, jalap, and others. 

Cathartics are those which act on the bowels less rapidly, 
bringing away more of solid substances; such as rhubarb, aloes, 
gamboge, and others. 

PURGATIVES 

f 

are meant in these pages to be those medicines which are slower 
in their action than laxatives and cathartics, but are less weaken¬ 
ing and take deeper hold, hence do more good, they being said to 
act on the liver ; among this class of medicines are first and best, 
and surest alw r ays, calomel, next blue mass, podopliyllin or May 
apple, taraxacum or dandelion, extract of black walnut, and 
others. 

The reason that medicines which act on the liver do a more de¬ 
cided good is, that a large part of the blood of the body passes 
through the liver, and if it is congested even partially, the passage¬ 
way is stop23ed and the blood remains in the interior portion of 
the body, laxatives and cathartics affecting that which is nearer 
the surface, and thereby accomplishing only a partial or tempora¬ 
ry good. If we can compound a medicine which will not only 
reach the stomach and upper bowels and lower bowels, but the 
liver too, then there will be the certain effect of clearing out the 
whole system and of meeting all the requirements of the case. 

If, then, most of our ordinary diseases arise from congestion, if 
there are medicines which can remove that congestion, then it fol¬ 
lows that to a very great extent: 

The cause of disease is one and the same. 

The tiling to be done is one and the same. 

The remedy to do that thing is one and the same; that is, 

The cause is one—congestion. 


28 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


The cure 'is one—to remove that congestion. 

The remedy is one—purgation. 

That purgation is surest, safest, and best which is accomplished 
by a combination of medicines, each of which has a distinct locali¬ 
ty of action ; then the whole together acts on the liver, the stom¬ 
ach, the upper, the lower bowels, and on the alimentary canal. 
(See Purgative Pills, including the whole philosophy of their 
action and the rules for their administration.) 

The uniform, universal action of these pills is to carry out of 
the body, within twelve hours* several pounds of solid and fluid 
matter, and to that-extent diminish the supply of blood to the 
whole body in general, and to the ailing part in particular. 

The broad fact is now laid down for the especial consideration 
of the reader, that nine-tenths of all ordinary diseases are prompt¬ 
ly benefited and eventually cured by the judicious administration 
of the purgative pills. t 


PATENT MEDICINES. 

It is a very common thing to see a medicine advertised in the 
papers as good for some particular disease, and in reading the 
circulars sent out with them it will be found that these medi¬ 
cines are good for a variety of diseases which seem to general 
readers to be wholly different, and yet to the experienced phy¬ 
sician they are known to be essentially the same, as, for example, 
when diarrhoea and dysentery and bilious fever prevail in a 
neighborhood at the same time, the cause is one—miasma, makino* 
the blood thick, causing the three varieties of disease, according 
to the concentratedness of the cause, the time of exposure to its 
influence, and the degree of resistance possessed by different con¬ 
stitutions; but the cause being one, the effects being different 
only in degree, the remedy is one and the same ; the same medi¬ 
cine wflll cure them all, the purgative pills, because they act on 
the bowels, bringing away a large amount of liquid and solid sub¬ 
stances. 

If you apply to six physicians for the cure of the same set of 
symptoms, for example, foul tongue, poor appetite, and cliilliness, 
all will pronounce it the same disease, 


VALUE OF WARM WATER 


29 


BILIOUSNESS, 

Yet each one will give directions of a varying character, but on 
close examination they will be found to be seeking to obtain one 
object—an evacuation of the bowels. 

Professor Austin Flint, of Pew York City, has written one of 
the most comprehensive and learned volumes on the Allopathic 
Practice of Medicine; showing him to be one of the highest order 
of medical scholars : in three cases out of four, whatever may be 
the diversity of his remedies, some one of them will act in the 
direction of opening the bowels. 

If then, on being called to any ordinary disease, whether 
it. lias occurred within a day or a week, or has been hang¬ 
ing about the system for years, the very first inquiry to be 
made is, have the bowels acted within twenty-four hours? if 
not, make them act, and with a day’s “ strict diet,” which see, 
keeping the patient quiet, warm, clean, in a pure air, it will be a 
rare thing to find no improvement; it will be a very common 
occurrence that a report for the better in all respects w T ill be 
certainly made. This action of the bowels diminishes the quan¬ 
tity of blood, which, with the dieting and the warmth, will 
amount to a couple of pounds, if not more. One. of the next 
most frequent occurrences is, the feet are cold or the whole body 
is chilly,—that is, there is too little circulation in the feet or skin, 
the warm arterial blood has collected in excess somewhere else in 
the body; oftenest in the head; warm the feet in hot water, warm 
the skin by drinking a quart of hot tea, and tucking up in bed, 
these operations draw the blood to the feet and to the skin, the 
circulation is equalized, and as soon as that is established the 
man is well,—for establishing the circulation, making it equable 
in all parts, is removing the congestion from the ailing part. 

One of the most successful practitioners of medicine on Fed 
Paver, Louisiana, many years ago, was a colored man who had once 
been the body servant of a surgeon in the army. Swamp fevers 
and kindred diseases abounded; his main remedy, one used in al¬ 
most every case, was warm water applied to the body in such a 
way as to draw blood where it was wanting, and to drive it away 
from parts where it abounded; this was equalizing the circulation. 
Very few have reached adult life who have not obsei\ed that 


30 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


when they became ailing, dull, depressed, irritable, with an ugly 
feeling all over, a free action of the bowels was putting a sun in 
the sky; it changed the whole physical and mental condition. 
Hence, one of the very earliest impressions to be made on the 
minds of the young, even as early as five or six years of age, should 
be in reference to the condition of the bowels, the absolute im¬ 
portance of going to the privy every day, drawing tlieir attention 
to the fact in connection with their various ailments. That pur¬ 
gation is safest, surest, and best which affects the stomach, liver, 
and bowels in their whole extent. . 

To that end the' purgative pill is- employed, made of calomel, 
rhubarb, aloes, gamboge, and tartar emetic. 

The Calomel is to act on the liver. 

The Rhubarb is to act on the upper intestines. 

The Aloes is to act on the lower intestine and rectum. 

The Gamboge is to intensify and make more certain the action 
of all of them, so that there may not be often occasion to take 
anything after the pills, in order to work them off. 

The Tartar Emetic is to relax the whole system, and thus make 
it more amenable to the action of the medicine. 

. As the above-named remedies will be used so often, and in so 
many connections, it will answer a good purpose if the reader 
will make himself thoroughly acquainted with their nature, their 
qualities, and their various uses. 

CALOMEL 

is worth all the other medicines known to man. It is called mer¬ 
cury, more familiarly known as quicksilver, which with common 
table salt is made by the chemist into that white, tasteless, smooth¬ 
feeling powder which we call Calomel, from two Greek words, 
Kalos and klelas, meaning a good black, from its resemblance to 
TEthiops mineral in some of its qualities, so that in taking 
calomel we take really what is made out of quicksilver and salt. 
It will doubtless be satisfactory to the reader to have this plain 
definition of a medicine which is so often used in all civilized 
lands. 

Its chief value is in the certainty of its action on the secretions, 
mainly on the liver, in a manner more or less direct. If the liver 


CALOMEL. 


31 


is too full of blood, or too full of bile, it is known from unnum¬ 
bered experiments and observations in the course of centuries on 
the part of educated and scientific men, that if the liver can be 
unloaded at all, it will be done by calomel, as it seems to have 
the power to affect it, as tartar emetic has the power to affect the 
stomach, or as alcohol has the power to affect the brain. TVhv 
brandy should affect the brain, or tartar emetic the stomach, or 
water-melons the kidneys, or castor-oil the bowels, we may not 
know, but that they do so is known to every observant person. 

If the gate of the great water reservoir of a city is closed par¬ 
tially or altogether, all the families supplied with such water are 
more or less affected thereby, as it flows to them through a multi¬ 
tude of smaller channels, diverging from the great one. 

The liver is the great gateway of the body; large quantities of 
blood are incessantly flowing through it, day and night; if it is 
clogged up partially or perfectly, then the multitude of operations 
in every part of the body which the liver supply affects, are more 
or less interfered with. Hence the importance of keeping the 
blood channels or canals or viaducts clear of all obstructions. 
Calomel does this for the liver; other medicines will do it, but 
not so powerfully, not so certainly, not so fully, for they—how¬ 
ever good when in their fresh, pure state—lose their virtues every 
day more or less, until after a while they are without any remedial 
value whatever; but calomel, like its separate constituents, quick¬ 
silver and salt, retains its virtues for a lifetime, without any altera¬ 
tion or depreciation, the better if kept in a bottle with a wrapping 
around it to keep out the light; and it is very natural that a > 
physician, when called to a patient, should use the means to relieve 
him from pain and suffering and death, which are the most certain 
in their operation. 

Any such person, if told that one medicine may cure him, but 
might fail, but that another would certainly cure, if cure was 
possible, would take the sure course. Calomel has the advantage 
of being tasteless, of being efficient in small doses, never causing 
sickness, nausea, or any discomfort whatever. 

There is only one drawback to its use—it will sometimes cause 
eating, spreading, fatal sores in young children ; it will sometimes 
salivate (which see) grown persons, hence, for children under 
twelve years of age, it is better to use it only in case nothing else 
will accomplish the purpose, for it is better to run the risk of its 


32 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


injurious effects than to allow the child to die, as it is better to 
run the risk of a person dying by having a limb taken off, than to 
allow it to remain with the certainty of death as a result of not 
amputating; especially if judiciously administered, it does not 
injure a child more than once in a hundred times. 

If grown persons take calomel judiciously, not more than one 
man in a million would be salivated or otherwise injured by its 
use. To take calomel judiciously, it is only necessary to make 
it operate within twelve hours, and not to take two doses in any 
one week ; thus administering it, there has not been one case of 
salivation or other injury from its employment. Calomel or 
blue mass, which is simply quicksilver ground up in hog’s lard, 
is liable to salivate if it is taken every day, or at intervals, so that 
the system is under the influence of it all the time; hence if 
calomel is taken alone or with other medicines, and does not act 
on the bowels within twelve hours, a tablespoonful of castor-oil 
(which see) should be taken every hour until the bowels are 
freely moved, and if the dose is not repeated within a week, 
salivation may be considered impossible. 

The effects of a non-acting liver are multitudinous. Some of 
the principal symptoms are furred tongue, bad taste in the mouth 
of mornings, sickness at stomach, variable appetite, generally 
no relish for food, headache, or other dull, disagreeable cor¬ 
responding conditions; the eyes are yellowish, also the skin in 
spots or in general, high-colored urine, chilliness, cold -feet, cos¬ 
tiveness, and a general disinclination to any bodily exercise or 
mental effort; no one person has all these symptoms in conse- 
‘ quence of the channels of the liver being obstructed, but such 
obstruction tends to cause all the effects named, one or more in 
the same person. The medicine which can and does certainly 
alleviate or cure all these ailments must be a remedy of great 
value, especially as it has no disagreeable taste, and needs to be 
taken in very small quantities; one quarter of as much as will 
lay on a nickel cent may be considered a liberal dose, or from five 
to ten grains. Many cases are given in standard medical works 
where thirty or more grains have been taken, the patient subse¬ 
quently living to the age of forty, fifty, and eighty years. There 
are multitudes of cases given where persons have been salivated 
repeatedly, and yet had good health and good sound teeth at the 
age of threescore and over, the writer being one of them. 


LIVER MEDICINES. 


33 


Inasmuch, then, as calomel is the surest and best and most 
efficient medicine in the world to clear out the channels of the 
liver, so that the blood may not he detained in it, hut may pass 
through to other parts of the system, to perform its various offices, 
and to make that bile whose presence in the body in that 
shape answers indispensable purposes, it is clear that calomel is 
an appropriate medicine to he given in every disease which is 
incompatible with a free and equable circulation of the blood 
throughout the body, that is, a medicine which will have more or 
less good effect, in one or more directions, in every disease known to 
man, because by its action on the liver directly, in compelling it 
to make bile, and on the bowels indirectly, as this bile has to pass 
out of the body, from the liver into the bowels, making them 
operate, purging them, its nature and its effects on the system 
ought to be understood by every intelligent person. 

Calomel could be made into five-grain pills with a very small 
amount of gum-arabic water, and their efficiency will be retained 
for a quarter of a century. 

In the course of years it was found that calomel might act on 
the liver,- but could not get into the bowels from obstruction, they 
being costive, then as a result constipation would keep the calo¬ 
mel in the system, and salivation or mercurial fever would result; 
hence it was thought advisable to combine with calomel some 
medicine which would as certainly act on the bowels as calomel 
would act on the liver. Rhubarb was known to be a good medi¬ 
cine to move the bowels proper, but occasionally all its effects 
would be spent before it reached the lower and large bowel, the 
rectum, which was sometimes so impeded with fieces that nothing 
would pass ; it was then decided to combine aloes, a bitter medi¬ 
cine which seemed to act on the rectum, or gamboge or colocynth, 
the object being to make it as certain as possible that not only 
the liver but the upper and lower bowels, and the largest of all, 
the rectum, should be acted on, and thus make it sure of its 
effects without the necessity, as a general rule, of having to take 
anything else to carry off the calomel, but that it should carry 
itself off. 

It occurred to the writer that if another medicine were added, 
which would relax the system and at the same time would cause 
water to flow from the stomach and upper bowels, and thus help 
to dilute and soften the hard mass of substance which is always 
3 


34 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


present in costiveness, then a less amount of the other medicines 
would be needed ; any nauseating^medicines would do, hut that is 
best which keeps the longest, which is surest in its action, and at 
the same time is least bulky. Tartar emetic combines in perfection 
all these requisitions. A pill made of five grains of calomel and 
one-fifth of a grain of tartar emetic will have more beneficial 
effects than a pill of ten grains of calomel, because of its relax¬ 
ing power. The following combination of medicines has been 
devised by the writer to make a 

CATHARTIC PILL 

which could be safely and beneficially taken in every form of 
disease in which it was desirable to act on the liver or to move 
the bowels, each pill containing 

Two grains of calomel, 

Two grains of rhubarb, 

One grain of colocynth, 

One-fifteenth of a grain of tartar emetic. 

It is better to mix up enough to make sixty-four pills, because 
in mixing with water so as to make the whole of a doughy consis¬ 
tence, the mass can be rolled out in a long shape, and can be di¬ 
vided into halves until the last divisions make two pills each. 
This is a good way to have each pill contain its proper amount of 
ingredients and of a proper size ; the long roll, divided in the 
•centre, would give sixteen pills to each; divide these two equally, 
then each division would give eight pills, the next four, the next 
two, or sixty-four in all. 

For ordinary purposes take two or three pills at a time, and 
they should act on the bowels within ten hours; if not at the 
end of ten hours, take a tablespoon of castor-oil every hour until 
there is an action. Each person should notice for himself how 
many are necessary to act on his bowels within ten hours, and 
then take that number. 

If two pills act in five or six hours, then only one should be 
taken, as it is better that the calomel should remain in the sys¬ 
tem ten or twelve hours before it is hurried out; it does more 
good the longer it remains without causing an action of the bowels, 
provided it is not longer than twelve hours. All medicines taken 
to act on the bowels should be given at bed-time, the person 


VALUABLE PILL. 


35 


not having eaten anything for at least five hours, for the 
stomach being empty, the medicine will act more directly, 
promptly, and thoroughly on the system than if it has to act 
through a mass of food or liquids, besides being less likely to 
cause disturbance of the bowels and vomiting. Life has been lost 
a thousand times by an indiscretion in eating, after taking 
emetic or purgative medicines: these leave the whole intestinal 
canal in a debilitated condition, as well as the digestive functions ; 
hence while medicine is acting on the bowels, and for twenty-four 
hours after it has been taken, the food should be light and* small 
in quantity; the almost universal rule should be, eat thrice a day, 
at not shorter intervals than five hours, so as to have all the food 
in the stomach.digested and carried out of it before more is taken 
in; these three meals should generally be made of any kind of 
soup, with bread crust or toasted bread broken into it, or a bowl 
of tea with cold bread and butter; then gradually increase the 
amount of solid food. The above diet is specially applicable after 
taking a dose of purgative pills, or a liver pill. 

LIVER PILL. 

Each one contains four grains of calomel, one grain of ipecac., 
and one-tenth of a grain of tartar emetic, carefully mixed with 
water; this will keep good for a lifetime. To make them in quan¬ 
tities, take sixty-four grains of pul vis ipecacuanha ; six grains 
of tartar emetic, and two hundred and fifty-six grains of calomel, 
mix them together in their dry state most thoroughly, then add 
as much water as will make the mass of a doughy consistence, roll 
it out in a long roll, and divide it into sixty-four pills. 

These pills ought not to be taken oftener than once a week, 
unless advised by a physician, simply because there is some risk 
of salivation, and because, further, in endeavoring to get well by 
taking any medicine, it is better to take as little as possible, and 
as seldom as possible, so as not to wear out its virtues, and so as to 
have something to fall back upon in more serious sickness ; for 
most medicines begin to lose tlieir effect in time \ the s} stem 
becomes accustomed to them, and more lias to be taken, and 
at shorter intervals ; finally no reasonable amount seems to, lia\ e 
anv effect. Very much as it is with liquor \ at first a teaspoonful 
of brandy will make the head light, will exhilarate; but if habit- 


3G 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


ually used, the time will come when half a glass of brandy will 
be required to do what the first teaspoonful did. 

It is best to take the liver pill at bedtime, not having eaten 
anything or drunk anything within four or five hours ; for if the 
stomach is full of food, the pill is dissolved at once, and the tartar 
emetic may cause vomiting; if the stomach is empty, the in¬ 
gredients dissolve slowly and take hold more efficiently; the 
person soon goes to sleep, and escapes the nauseating effects alto¬ 
gether. It usually operates next morning and once or twice more 
during the day, sometimes weakening considerably, at others 
little, but always passing off in a few hours. When the patient 
begins to feel hungry, that if he had a bowl of nice hot soup 
he would relish it and it would do him good, and it certainly 
will if some stale toast or crust bread is broken into the soup; 
for it seems to have come to light recently that there is very little 
nourishment in meat soup, especially without something more 
solid, as bread or mashed potatoes; but the warmth of the soup 
is a positive advantage, since warmth in disease has great cura¬ 
tive powers. Soup may be alternated with hot teas, or broma or 
cocoa, with cold bread and butter. 

On the day after a pill has acted, the diet may approach the 
regular habits of the patient. 

If a pill does not operate within twelve hours, take about one ta¬ 
blespoon of castor-oil, which repeat every hour until it does operate. 

A pill acts more efficiently, touches the liver more effectively, 
if it is ten or twelve hours before it causes an action of the bow¬ 
els than if it operated earlier. 

This pill begins to have its effect on the system in about two 
hours, as do the purgative pills; one effect is to stimulate, to cause 
more or less of an excitement, a kind of warmth or fever. Thus 
when either of them is given with a view to stop the chill of 

FEVER AND AGUE 

which is expected to come on in about that time, such a result 
pretty certainly takes place. 

•If, on the other hand, a liver pill is taken to arrest diarrhcea 
safely and.healthfully, in about two hours the severest looseness 
of bowels will be very often found to cease; in fact, two or three 
liver pills at a dose will seldom fail to arrest the most fearful 
discharges of 


BILIOUS AILMENTS. 


37 


ASIATIC CHOLERA. 

The first effect of these pills, although given to cure costiveness 
and constipation, is to arrest the looseness, and then in a few hours 
more to cause passages with bile in them; the frequent, colorless 
passages are present from the fact that there is no bile in them; 
an unnatural action is going on in the system, by which the bile 
is locked up in the liver; the pills act on the liver, they unlock it, 
the bile flows out, and all goes on well. Sometimes the pill nause¬ 
ates uncomfortably, but bear with it, as it will do the more good. 

If there is a griping or a rumbling in the bowels at the end of four 
or more hours after it has been taken, you may know that it is hav¬ 
ing an effect, and that in due time it will give a good operation. 

This griping in the bowels is not the result of any ingredient 
in the pill, for then it would always follow taking a pill, whereas it 
frequently does not take place. This griping is the result of 
acrid bile and other substances which are floating along down¬ 
wards and out of the body, from having been unloosed, dislodged 
by the pill, and shows how needful it was to have taken the pill. 
Sometimes the bile is so acrid as to be described by patients as 
burning like fire at the exit from the body. 

Many persons can take one of these pills at bedtime, and go to 
work next day as if nothing had happened, making no change in 
anything except in the eating during the day on which it was act¬ 
ing. The general rule should be, if its action debilitates much 
it is better to remain in the house and lie down awhile. 

Let it be remembered that any 'weakening effect of the pill is 
but transient, passes off before the close of the day; and many times 
it has happened that persons who have taken a pill at night, not 
having felt hungry for a long time, are surprised at the feeling 
of being able to eat almost anything before the close of next day. 

Bilious persons have taken these pills habitually for many 
years, whenever they 

GET OUT OF SORTS, 

without any special diminution of their good effects, and have 
urgently counselled that the mode of preparing them, might not be 
permitted to pass away with the life of. their maker. Some ad¬ 
vantages which they possess, are :— 

First.—They are small in size, hence are swallowed more easily. 

Second.—They will keep good for a lifetime. 

Third.—Can be easily and safely transmitted by mail. 


88 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR 


Fourth.—If broken, tlieir pieces will clo as much good as if 
whole. 

Fifth.—If a pill cannot be swallowed, it may be beaten into a 
powder, put on a spoon-handle, turned deftly, and placed on the 
back part of the tongue, and washed down with cold water, and 
do as much good as any other way; or the powder may be placed 
between layers of boiled rice, or soft bread, or jelly, and swal¬ 
lowed. 

Sixth.—It has no taste. 

Seventh.—The calomel is so heavy that when it once gets into 
the stomach it falls to the bottom, and scarcely any amount of 
straining will throw it up. Once down, it stays down. 

Eighth.—It does not require frequent repetition; as a general 
rule, a pill a week is all that is needed. If a person has to be 
taking medicine two, three, or four times a day and night, to be 
repeated and kept up for weeks and months, such person will soon 
come to feel himself a permanent invalid; besides, those who are 
all the time taking medicine are all the time sick, and will be 
always sick. 

Ninth.—This pill rarely requires to be followed by other 
medicine; it works itself off in almost all cases. This is accom¬ 
plished by the relaxing properties of both the tartar emetic and 
the ipecac. ; hence these are important ingredients. 

Tenth.—As much cold water may be drunk after the pill has 
been taken and during its action as the patient may desire; only 
if liquid is swallowed within an hour of taking the pill, nausea 
and vomiting may be the result. 

As the pill causes two or more actions during the day, it is not 
important to have an action of the bowels on the day after its 
operation; for usually, if the bowels were regular before, they 
return to their regularity in two or three days; if they do not, 
it is better to take some castor-oil night and morning, not enough 
to purge, but merely enough to cause one full free action every 
twenty-four hours. Sometimes a single teaspoonful at a dose, 
morning and evening, will answer the purpose. Some persons re¬ 
quire more, and some less. Each one must observe for himself how 
much he requires, and be governed accordingly. The one great 
point to be aimed at is one full, free action of the bowels during 
every twenty-four hours; take as much oil as will accomplish 
that in divided doses. A larger amount might be taken, a table- 


BILIOUS DISEASES. 


39 


spoonful or more at a time; but tlie objection to that course is, 
large doses act quickly, harshly sometimes, debilitate, and leave the 
bowels costive for a day or two. Teaspoonful doses are not liable 
to these objections. There is no more danger in getting wet 
after taking one of these pills than there would be in getting wet 
after one had not been taken. 

The uses to which this pill is applicable are very numerous; 
the symptoms which they are calculated to meet, if taken as above 
suggested, and the different ailments of the body which they will 
alleviate, dislodge, or remove cannot be mentioned in any single 
page of this volume. There is scarcely an ache or pain or distress 
in any part of the body which it is not pretty certain to alleviate 
or modify, if not to cure out and out. 

Its tendency is, and always will be as long as there is life enough 
in a man to take an impression from it, to purify the blood, to 
make it thinner and more capable of flowing healthfully and 
actively through the veins and arteries; in short, it corrects bad 
blood; and as all pain is neuralgic (see Neuralgia), it tends to ease 
all pain. It acts on the liver, hence it is applicable to all diseases 
which arise from a disordered liver. If the bowels are costive 
the pill will remove it; if the bowels are loose the pill will arrest 
it, or make it a healthy looseness ; if there is heaviness or dulness 
or oppression in the head, the pill will disperse it before it has had 
time to act on the bowels. 

It is applicable when the appetite is poor, fitful, changeable, or 
when there is none at all. If there is 

BAD TASTE IN THE MORNING 

in the mouth, a judicious use of the pill, of exercise, and diet will 
remove the bad taste. If in the morning, on rising, 


TIIE TONGUE IS COATED, 

the coating will be removed with a little perseverance. If the 

EYES ARE YELLOW, 

it will clear them; if the skin is pumpkin-like it will restore it to 
its natural hue. If the 


40 


IIALUS FAMILY DOCTOR 


URINE IS SCANT 

or high-colored this pill will increase its quantity, and will render 
it clear, copious, and healthful. In all cases of 

HEADACHE 

arising from a torpid liver, usually accompanied with 
% 

COLD FEET, 

cold hands, and chilliness, no remedy is more effectual than this, if 
these things are of recent occurrence; but for cold feet and hands 
and chilliness, which have been so long present as to have be¬ 
come habitual, other means must be added, but the pills will give 
an aid to these other means which no other medicine possibly can. 
In all fevers this pill cannot be taken amiss, now and then, be¬ 
cause an over-quantity of blood in the liver, or engorged bile, is 
inseparable from all feverish conditions of the system. 

Notwithstanding the efficiency of this pill, it ought not to be 
taken as long as a person can conveniently avoid it by using hy¬ 
gienic measures. It is better in almost alh cases of sickness, ex¬ 
cept those which are urgent, to try first what good can be done by 
Abstinence from food, 

Quiet and repose, 

Good genial warmth, 

Personal cleanliness, 

Out-door activities. 

These five things persevered in judiciously will moderate any 
form of human ailment, and will cure half of them, if not more; 
but when these have had a fair trial for a day or two, do not take 
a pill, but call in a physician if you are able, or if convenient; if 
not, then take a pill on the conditions before described ; it can be 
always done with safety, and will seldom fail of a good result. 
iNow and then we come across a person who has some peculiarity 
of constitution, called by physicians 

IDIOSYNCRASY, 

which will not tolerate a particular medicine; but this is rare and 
can be only told by an opportunity of making an experiment; in 


DISEASE A UNIT. 


41 


such cases, other medicines should he used whose effects are as 
nearly similar as possible. 


■- COT )———. 

ONENESS OF DISEASE, 

And the oneness of medicine as a remedy, is well worth the at¬ 
tention of the unprofessional reader, and parents especially. If 
a man of average intellect is advised to “ take something ” for his 
ailment, and it does him good, cures him, anybody’s pills, or any 
old woman’s tea, he is enthusiastic in its praise. This enthusiasm 
increases with every experience he has of its unmistakable effi¬ 
cacy. It will not be long before he finds himself thinking that 
if it has done him good in one disease, it may do him good in 
another, although apparently a very different malady. Lo and 
behold, it cures that too, and in a short time you find the man 
advising his favorite as a cure for everybody and everything, 
lie treasures up in his own mind every case of success, and at 
length begins to think of setting up a patent medicine shop. 
Many have done it, and have made fortunes. Outsiders wonder 
why physicians did not find this out long ago, and every such 
person begins to feel, if he does not say, “ I believe I know about 
as much as any of the doctors.” 

One half dozen medicines, skilfully employed, will cure more 
diseases than all the million others that are in the world. Nature 
will cure half of all the ailments of humanity, if you will only let 
her alone. The tincture of Thyme (time!) will cure half the 
remainder. But when people get sick they will not a take 
time; ” they tell the doctor they cannot afford it, they must take 
medicine, and get well right away. A day’s loss to a working¬ 
man, or a struggling widow, means nothing to eat on the morrow. 
If you are really sick, go to a good doctor, hand him a fee, get 
his advice, and follow it. Do not get an opinion out of him, and 
then slip off without pay. The 

“ LIVER PILL ” 

has been in use fifty years, and it will cure fifty different dis¬ 
eases, aches, and pains. Its composition is made known. 




42 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


If a well-made machine lias a thousand wheels, more or less 
connected in their movements, and you stop one, you stop all. 
The human body contains a great many glands, manufactories, 
and wheels. Stop the great one, the heart, and you stop all. 
“Slow” one, and you “slow” all. Put upon one organ a 
thousand horse-power extra, and make it run a mile a minute, 
such as a tremendous dose of brandy, and the other organs will 
run like lightning. 

The liver is one of the great controlling organs of the body. 
Pegulate its working healthfully, and the other parts of the 
machine dependent on it will run healthily too. And in some 
way or other, almost every part of the human body has a more or 
less direct connection with the liver, sympathizing with its action. 
Hence, any medicine acting on the liver so as to restore it to a 
healthy working, necessarily restores all the other parts which 
depend on it. 

The pill in question does affect the liver, and is called a “ Liver 
Pill,” because it acts on the liver infallibly. 

THE LIVER PILL 

may be given to advantage in all forms of disease which are asso¬ 
ciated with constipated bowels, with fevers, headache, cold feet, 
foul tongue, variable appetite, nausea, or pain. 

One should be taken at a time, and if it does not operate 
within twelve hours, then take a tablespoon of castor-oil, or as 
much salt in a glass of warm water, every two hours, until there 
is a discharge from the bowels ; or an injection may be given 
instead of the oil or salts, although it will not be as efficient in its 
action. 

The pill should be made to act as above, because it contains a 
small amount of calomel, which may now and then cause saliva¬ 
tion if it is allowed to remain too long in the system. Put this 
pill contains ingredients which usually have the effect to act on 
the stomach and bowels, irrespective of the calomel, thus making 
it unnecessary to take anything after them to work it off. 

It is not advised to take one oftener than once in five or six 
days, as, if taken at too short intervals, it might salivate. It is 
intended to act on the liver, to thin the blood, to lessen its quan¬ 
tity, to improve its quality, to make it good and life-giving. 


DIAIUUI (EA. 


43 


FEVERS 

of all descriptions will be benefited and cured by the judicious 
administration of tliis pill, from time to time, until tlie patient 
begins to feel as if bread and butter and roasted meat would taste 
very good. dSTo other medicine is really needed;meanwdiile , the 
system should be allowed to rest. If every trifling symptom is 
prescribed for, it will be found in a short time that some kind of 
medicine is to be taken almost every hour of the day and night, 
until outraged nature begins to reject everything, and scarcely 
tolerates a glass of the purest water. 

The system will sooner rectify itself if left alone to the recu¬ 
perative powers of nature, the pill being given merely to aid her 
a little in clearing the liver of the obstructions in it, so that the 
blood may pass on readily to other parts of the body. Each 
person should note how many are recpiired to cause one operation 
within twelve hours, for some are more sensitive to the action of 
medicine than others, and sometimes a motion may be more 
urgently needed than at others. In such cases it would be better 
to take an additional pill, in order to be more certain of its 
effect, and that this effect should be more full and free. 

LOOSE BOWELS. 

One of these pills will cure any ordinary case of loose bowels, 
if the patient will go to bed at once, wrap up warm, and eat 
nothing for a day or tw x o but boiled rice, with a small amount of 
boiled milk, using no other liquid whatever. But in taking this 
pill for diarrhoea, which is the physician’s name for loose bowels, 
if it does not stop the passages within two hours, it is proof that 
a large enough dose had not been taken. Hence, at the end of 
two hours, if the bow T els are still running off, give another, and 
pay more attention to giving the body rest, and keeping it warm. 

This pill will keep good, in a dry place, for twenty years. It 
contains no dangerous ingredients ; and if all other medicines are 
abstained from, and cleanliness and pure air and warmth and 
quiet are secured, with a moderate diet, there is scarcely a dis¬ 
ease of any ordinary character which will not be benefited by it, 
for the simple reason that it will always do more or less towaids 


44 


HALL'S FAMLLY DOCTOR. 


purifying the blood, lessening its quantity, and giving it a more 
healthful circulation. With this a person may travel the world 
over without the need of any other remedy to supplement his 
medicine-chest; because, in the large majority of ordinary attacks 
of sickness, quiet, warmth, rest, pure air, and abstinence from all 
food for twelve or twenty-four hours, will inaugurate an imme¬ 
diate improvement, which would result in cure, if the means 
stated were persevered in. At the end of fifteen or twenty hours 
after taking a pill, the patient should eat something, if there is a 
decided feeling of hunger; if not, wait for it, even if it is for three 
or four days, taking care not to eat at shorter intervals than five 
hours, eating moderately of only two kinds of food, bread being 
one. 

But, although this is incomparably the best course to pursue, 
there are circumstances which make it necessary to have more 
immediate relief. Thus, at the first attack of sickness, if the 
bowels have not acted freely within twenty-four hours, take an 
emetic; if this is not convenient, then take one of the pills, and 
await its action. 

If within three or four hours after taking the pill there is an 
action of the bowels, it is not from the pill; hence, if at the end 
of twelve hours there is not an action of the bowels, brine: about 
such action with an enema, although they were moved within four 
hours after the pill was taken. 

It is important to know if the pill is working favorably, which 
is ascertained by the color and consistence of the discharges from 
the bowels. If the discharges are large in amount, and some¬ 
what thicker, or more consistent than mortar, if they are very offen¬ 
sive, if they are light, bright yellow, the pills have done good, but 
more if they are green, and more still if they are dark or black: 
Sometimes they are described as being 

“black as tar,” 

these being indications of the different degrees of torpidity, or 
congestion of the liver. Hence, whatever medicines persons take, 
the discharges from the bowels afterwards should be scrutinized, 
to be able to decide on the beneficial effects of the medicine if no 
physician is in attendance, and for his satisfaction, if you have 
one. 


SYMPTOMS OF BILIOUSNESS. 


45 


Sometimes nature lierself throws off very yellow, green, or 
black discharges, thus showing that she has vigor enough to relieve 
herself of the diseased conditions of the system; and although 
these passages may be free and frequent, if they are of greater 
consistence than water it is a 


HEALTHFUL DIAERIICEA, 

and nothing ought to be taken to arrest it; but this is often igno¬ 
rantly done, to serious and sometimes fatal injury, under the im¬ 
pression that it is a diseased condition, hurtful to the system, when 
in reality it is an effort of nature to cure herself. In the case, 
however, of green flocculent passages from infants, means should 
be taken to correct them. The pill usually acts in about ten or 
twelve hours, and then again once or twice during the day. In 
proportion as the discharges are thin, light-colored, and weakening, 
the pill has failed of its proper effect. Then more attention 
should be paid to warmth, rest, abstinence from food, unless 
hungry; then take boiled rice with boiled milk in small quanti¬ 
ties ; have a stout woollen flannel bound very tightly about the 
abdomen, some fourteen inches broad, and long enough to have a 
double layer in front. If the passages still continue, keep quiet 
and wait. Hotliing more will be needed. 

The value of this pill will be more intelligently appreciated by 
a simple enumeration of the diseased conditions to which it is 
applicable, the most of these symptoms being more or less directly 
associated with a torpid condition of the liver, although it is rare 
that more than two or three are present in any one case at a time. 


Appetite Variable, 
Bad Taste, 
Belching, 

Bitter Taste, 
Brownish Spots, 
Chilliness, 

Choking Sensation, 
Cold Feet, 

Colic, 

Constipation, 

Despondency, 


Diarrhoea, 

Discouragement, 

Dizziness, 

Di •owsiness, 

Dry Cough, 

Dry Throat, 
Dulness, 

Dyspepsia, 

Flashes of Heat, 
Flatulence, 

Fulness of Stomach, 


46 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


General Distress, 

Pain in Sides, 

Gloominess, 

Palpitation, 

Headache, 

Piles, 

Heaviness at Stomach, 

Raising Blood, 

Internal Heat, 

Rush of Blood, 

Low Spirits, 

Sallow Skin, 

Nervousness, 

Sore Bowels, 

Numbness, 

Sore Throat, 

Pain in Back, 

Urine Unnatural, 

Pain in Breast, 

Unsocial, 

Pain in Bowels, 

Yellow Skin, 

Pain in Shoulders, 

Yellow Eyes. 


It would be interesting and instructive to point out how these 
various symptoms may and do arise from a disordered condition 
of the liver, but want of space forbids. . 

In addition to all these ailments, which are directly reached by 
the Liver Pill, there is scarcely a pain or an ache in the whole hu¬ 
man body which will not be more or less modified by one full, 
free, thorough operation. 

In addition, it will cure almost any curable case of 

FEVER AND AGUE ; 

Will break up the chills in a single day, sometimes, although of 
many months’ duration, by simply taking one of them two hours 
before the expected chill. If two of them are taken one day and 
the chill is not broken, is not prevented from occurring, take three 
the next time. The philosophy of this action is that the pill at 
once begins to excite an activity in the circulation, which compels 
a more lively flow of the blood, throws it out from the centres of 
the body to the circumference, and thus prevents that stagnation, 
that congestion of the blood, which is the immediate cause of the 
chill. Then if the chill is prevented, there is no reaction to cause 
a fever and its consequences of debilitating perspiration. To 
make the matter sure, take another dose two hours before the next 
expected chill, and the work is done, but with much greater cer¬ 
tainty if, when the pill begins to act on the bowels, about three 
grains of quinine are taken in water every two hours, until the 
time for the chill of the next day has passed, omitting the quinine 


PO WER OF MEDICINE. 


47 


after ten o’clock at niglit until daylight next morning, so as to allow 
the patient to sleep, the diet meanwhile being on the general prin¬ 
ciples of three meals a day, at not less than five hours’ interval, of 
bread and butter and meat at breakfast and dinner, and at supper 
bread and butter only, with a cup of hot tea. 

Here, then, is a pill of such constituents as will make it act on 
the stomach, liver, and bowels, and doing so, modifies all the 
symptoms which arise from their deranged condition. 

It sometimes happens that a constipated condition of the bowels 
will give rise to forty or fifty different symptoms in as many dif¬ 
ferent persons at least, not more than two or three of any of them 
found in the same persons ; and an ignorant mind noticing the re¬ 
sults in this connection, could be very readily led to attribute to this 
pill 


A MIRACULOUS POWER. 

But it is easy to see that any other means which would have the 
effect to clear out the system of its accumulations would give the 
same good results. 

A due consideration of the subjects mentioned will serve to show 
reflecting persons that there is a oneness in disease, and in its 
remedy, which vastly simplifies -the practice of medicine, and 
which removes from it much of the mystery which hangs around 
it in the minds of a large class of the community. And a proper 
reflection on the whole matter leads to the legitimate result, that 
the practice of medicine, in the hands of educated men of experi¬ 
ence and skill, is more of a science than most persons think it is. 


■C0O- 


PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 

Educated physicians at home and abroad agree that books on 
Family Medicines have done more harm than good. As far as 
this is feo, the injury done has arisen more from certain omissions 
than from actual faults in the books themselves. It is intended to 
supply these omissions in this volume. 




48 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


THE FIRST 

main defect lias been tlie failure to mention in plain terms some 
of the general principles of the practice of medicine—the failure 
to designate the different diseases so clearly that they might be 
recognized by persons of ordinary comprehension, it being neces¬ 
sary to know what was the matter with a man before it could be 
decided what to do for him. This book can be consulted most 
advantageously if the reader will spend some of his leisure time 
in tlie study of this preliminary chapter, and not leave it to be read 
when the mind is disturbed by the actual presence of disease in 
himself or some member of his family. 

GOOD NURSING 

will cure a large number of diseases without any medicine what¬ 
ever, and when drugs are required, adds very greatly to their 
efficiency. All ordinary diseases demand 
Rest, 

Warmth, 

Pure Air, 

Nourishment; 

And that is the best nurse who secures these to the patient the 
soonest and in the largest proportions. 

All diseases come under one of two classifications—Acute or 
Chronic. 

CHRONIC DISEASES 

are named from the Greek word chronos , which means time, 
duration; hence chronic diseases are those which last for a long 
time for months and years—such as bronchitis, consumption, 
dyspepsia, rheumatism, and others. 

ACUTE DISEASES 

Are those which are sharp, short, severe, run their course in a 
few days, such as cholera, colic, croup, diphtheria, diarrhoea, dysen¬ 
tery, fever, and others like them. 


THE OBJECT OF THE BOOK. 


49 


It is for the treatment of acute diseases, those which involve 
severe suffering and require immediate attention, that books of 
family medicine are mainly written; and in this connection it is 
a positive humanity to prepare such a book, because there are 
multitudes of cases where it is impossible to procure the services 
of a physician in a reasonable time. Even in large cities, at 
certain hours of the day, a messenger will be gone several hours 
before he can succeed in finding a doctor unengaged or at his 
office. In the country the inconvenience is increased manifold ; 
the doctor’s office is one, two, or ten miles or more away; on the 
arrival of a messenger he is often found to have gone five, ten, 
or a dozen miles off in another direction, leaving it altogether 
uncertain when he will return ; he may have gone on a consulta¬ 
tion visit or on a case of confinement; and to allow a person to 
endure the agonies of cramp, colic, of facial neuralgia, of internal 
bleedings, of suffocating crouq>, or the terrible asthma, for weary 
hours and days without any intelligent efforts to help, alleviate, 
arrest, or cure, is dreadful to think of. It is to meet this imperative 
want of millions of families—to meet it safely in all cases, in 
many, efficiently, it is hoped—that this book is written; and it 
has been a sweet and ever-sustaining thought all through its pre¬ 
paration, that when the writer’s already extended. pilgrimage is 
ended, many a critical malady may be arrested, many a dangerous 
disease averted, many an agonizing pain subdued and soothed 
and eradicated from the persons of those who have trusted them¬ 
selves to his teachings, even if they be but followed until 

THE DOCTOR COMES. 

One of the general principles to be carried out in the treatment 
of almost all diseases is to 

UNBURDEN THE SYSTEM. 

Iii every sickness to wffiich the human body is liable, there is 
something within it which ought not to be there, and to get it 
out is to cure. Disease is a burden, to lessen which, to remove, 
is to alleviate, to cure. 

ILLUSTRATION. 

If a man has eaten more than he ought to have done, the stomach 
is overburdened, he begins to feel dull, heavy, sleepy; next comes 

4 


50 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


a feeling of oppression, shortness of breath, faintness, sickness, 
paleness of face, the perspiration breaks out on the forehead, and 
he feels as if he was almost ready to die. Get the food out of 
his stomach, relieve it of its load by an emetic of large draughts 
of warm water, and in an hour, it may be, he feels as well as 
he ever was. 

CONSTIPATION 

is the failure of a daily action of the bowels for thirty-six hours 
or more; then the system is burdened by carrying one or more 
pounds of food over what is natural and habitual; if this state 
of things is allowed to continue, the machinery of life clogs up, 
it fails to work well, and sickness is inevitable because the whole 
body is overburdened; remove that burden, let something be 
done to open the bowels, to cause to pass out of the body the ac¬ 
cumulations of several days, and health returns. In a very 
extensive sense 


DISEASE IS A UNIT. 

In a sense quite as extensive, the cure of all curable diseases is a 
unit also; .one cause, one remedy; the body is burdened by some¬ 
thing within it which is unnatural to it, which ought not to be 
there: it is burdened, remove that burden, and the cure follows. 
The cause is one, the manifestations are multitudinous, the disease 
is various, according to .the part of the body, according to the 
locality of the organ which feels the burden most. 

A cold in the Head is an Influenza. 

■“ Nose is a Catarrh. 

a Throat is Laryngitis. 

“ Windpipe is Croup. 

“ Branches of Windpipe is Bronchitis. 

“ Lungs is a “ Bad Cold.” 

It is sufficiently near the general truth to say, that in all diseases 
the blood is changed, it is in an unnatural condition, it contains 
particles which do not belong to it in its healthy state, it is 
burdened by having to carry along the veins and arteries foreign 
matter, it requires more power to freight it along, the pulse must 
beat faster or stronger, for it is the pulse which is the moving 
force and carries this life of the body to its furthest extremities, 
and if it has to work faster or harder it gets tired sooner, cur 


JSfUESIKG THE SICK 


51 


\ 

i 

strength is prematurely exhausted, and we are weak, and weakness 
is an element of all diseases. 

If, then, you can remove the foreign particle's from the blood, 
you remove the burden, and the man is w^ell again. 

It requires a certain amount of force to carry the blood through 
the body in its natural, healthy state; but if the blood has for¬ 
eign particles in it, making it bad blood, that is, thicker and heavier 
than is natural, the force of fever is used by nature to carry it 
onwards, hence fever is nature’s cure; artificial stimulants are the 
physician’s cure, or purgation, which diminishes the quantity of 
blood to be moved and makes its motion easier. 




NURSING THE SICK. 

Good nursing, a judicious attention to the sick and all the sur¬ 
roundings of a sick-bed, would cure many cases of disease with¬ 
out the use of any medicine whatever; in other cases, where 
medicine cannot be borne, in consequence of the great debility of 
the patient, or the exhaustion of the system, it has been successful 
in restoring health and life for many years. And if families 
would heed the suggestions which follow, with reasonable fidelity, 
the attention of a physician could often be dispensed with, to say 
nothing of the comfort afforded to the sick and suffering, with all 
their discouragements and despondencies. 

1. The sick-room should be up-stairs, if possible. There are 
certain pernicious emanations from the earth, besides the raw 
dampness and heaviness which vitiate the air, and otherwise ren¬ 
der it pernicious to the invalid. If there is no second story, the 
higher the bed from the floor the better. Pallets on the floor, 
cradles, lounges, cots, and trundle-beds should be exchanged* for 
high bedsteads. 

2. By all means place the sick in the room in the building 
which faces the sun for the greater part of the day, although it 
may not have as many windows as others, and although it may be 
smaller, for the sunshine keeps it light and cheerful; it keeps it 
warm, a healthful warmth ; it keeps it dry, and besides imparts 




52 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


a life to tlie atmosphere breathed, which of itself is a very impor¬ 
tant element in bringing back vitality to an exhausted frame. A 
merchant in IS ew Tork City noticed in the progress of ^cais, that 
his chief clerks sickened soon after they came to him, and one or 
two of them died. The thought occurred to him one day, that it 
might be because the apartment where the books were kept was 
so surrounded by buildings that the sun did not shine into any of 
the windows for a single moment during the day. Being a man 
of culture, energy, and of a generous nature, he decided instantly 
to have his books kept in the sunniest room in the building, with 
the result of the immediate and continued improvement and 
eventual recovery of permanent good health on the part of the 
person then in his employ. If, then, the want of sunshine is a 
cause of actual and even fatal disease to young and hearty per¬ 
sons, as all the young men were when they first came to the mer¬ 
chant, much worse, incalculably worse results would follow, if 
those who were already sick occupied rooms where no cheering, 
warmiiio; sunshine ever came. 

3. The bed should be so situated as to be easily approached 
from both sides; and, if convenient, have the head towards the 
north, to enable the patient to face the sunshine, to look on the 
out-doors, which has of itself a cheering effect, lessens the mono¬ 
tony of the sick-chamber, and tends to divert the mind from .the 
condition of the body, thus allowing time to pass more pleasantly. 
It may be fancy, or it may be fact, that certain electrical currents 
are passing between the poles, and their course being longitudinal 
to the body, and for other considerations, may have decidedly 
advantageous results to the sick. Such an opinion has been given 
by different men, whose positions and abilities entitled them to 
the respect and confidence of educated people. The idea, how¬ 
ever, may have readily arisen from the circumstance that if the 
sick-bed has its head to the north, it gives the patient the easy 
opportunity of seeing the glad sunshine all the time. 

4. A good ventilation, a constant supply and resupply of pure, 
cooling, out-door air, is of inestimable advantage to the sick. The 
fact may be well repeated that an English physician was called 
to attend a poor family of several members of different ages. 
One by one had been taken sick, until every member was an in¬ 
valid in the depth of winter. The usual medicines seemed to fail 
of their ordinary good effects; one or two of the family died. 


VENTILATE THE SICK-ROOM. 


53 


Soon after that, in one of liis visits, the physician’s attention was 
drawn to the fact that a window-pane had been broken, and the 
family expressed great apprehension of taking cold, as their 
means were limited, and it had been very necessary to be eco¬ 
nomical with their fuel. To make less do, every crevice of door 
and window had been carefully stuffed to keep out the cold, with 
the result of preventing ventilation, and occasioned the rebreath¬ 
ing of vitiated air all the time. The physician had repeatedly 
drawn their attention to the importance of Opening a door or win¬ 
dow every day for a short time, even several times a day; but he had 
noticed that his suggestions had remained uniformly unheeded, 
the bugbear of expense and taking cold being ever present to the 
inmates. Under the circumstances he considered the breaking of the 
glass a piece of great good fortune, and put obstacles in the way 
of repair in such a way as to defer it as long as possible. The result 
was immediate and most striking. Within a day or two the 
invalids began to improve, and all of them eventually recovered. 

5. If a fire is kept on the hearth in cold weather ; and in warm, 
a large lamp or candle is kept burning day and night, and the 
inner door always kept open, there is a continual draught passing 
along the floor towards the fire-place, which carries before it and 
up the chimney the most deleterious gases in the room, for the 
heaviest and most poisonous of these are always near the floor. 

If the door cannot be left- open all the time, it may be done a 
few minutes at a time, every hour or two. In other cases, the 
window might be elevated. If this cannot be done without causing 
a draught of air upon the patient, provide a board two or three 
inches broad, and just as long as the window-sasll; lay it on the 
sill lengthways, edge up, under the sash. This causes an opening 
at the joining of the upper and under sash, through which a 
draught of air is driven upward toward the ceiling, where it is 
warmed, and gives' way downward to other cool air coming in 
constantly, thus giving an out-door air warmed to supply the 
patient all the time. If needed, additional bed-clothing can be 
supplied, thus securing two most important conditions for the 
invalid: First, a pure out-door air to breathe; second, comfort¬ 
able bodily warmth. 

6. There should be no standing liquid of any description in a 
sick-room, not even the purest cold water ; because, like a pane 
of glass of a very cold morning, the cold water causes the tainted 


54 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


atmosphere of tlie sick-room to settle on its surface, and con¬ 
dense into oily drops, which under a microscope exhibit various 
impurities, even yellow matter, to drink which would be disgust¬ 
ing. If not drank, the same particles are made gaseous by the 
warm air of the room, are evaporated, mingled with the air, and 
breathed into the lungs, to be incorporated directly with the blood. 

7. Everything perishable by evaporation should be removed from 
the room, as food and fruits of every description, because their 
smell, their exhalations, contaminate the air; every atom helps to 
make it less pure. 

8. All medicines, bottles, and vials, or anything else which 
reminds of medicine, should be kept out of sight, except at the 
moment of administering them. 

9. There should be no clothing hanging about in the room, and 
as little drapery about the bed and windows as possible, for these 
hold dust and absorb odors, and keep them in the room. For the 
same reason it is usually better to have no carpet on the floor, 
except a strip alongside of the bed, for carpets retain dust and 
dampness; and if any liquid is spilled on them it is not dried for 
days, and odors accumulate. Still, if the patient is quite ill, or 
greatly debilitated, or lias been ill for a time, a carpet is indis¬ 
pensable, as it deadens the sound of feet and moving* of chairs, 
which would otherwise interfere with the quiet and sleep of the 
patient. In all diseases sleep is better than medicine, and pro¬ 
motes cure more than anything else. 

10. The qualifications of the nurse are so varied and so im¬ 
portant, that great care should be taken and no expense spared to 
secure a good one. Women are generally better than men; 
although, if the patient is pretty helpless, and requires to be 
moved in and out of bed much, strength is a requisite. 

The nurse should be either specially attached to the invalid, or 
should be a friendly acquaintance, with whom the patient has had 
pleasant associations, for these things secure a more devoted atten¬ 
tion than hired services. At the same time intelligent capability 
and experience are to be preferred in a stranger to pure affection 
only. 

The nurse should be firm, and quietly decided; of a kindly, 
gentle nature, and sympathetic; not hasty nor touchy, but calm 
and deliberate; at the same time spry, active, prompt. And not 
least, by any means, but of the very first importance, there should 


KEEP THE SICK QUIET. 55 

be a cheerful confidence and composure in tlie expression of the 
face all the time. 

There are many things which the nurse should not do, and 
others which should be studiously avoided. And to do these prop¬ 
erly a good judgment is indispensable. She should not wear a 
silk dress, or any other fabric which gives a rustling noise; for 
repose and cpiiet are essential in sickness, and whatever disturbs a 
doze or wakes from sleep, or rouses up just as sleep is coming on, 
is a great misfortune. 

All short, sharp, sudden movements should be watched 
against, as they tend to alarm the patient. All suddenness 
should be avoided, all impatient or alarmed exclamations, 
everything which has the slightest tendency to discompose the 
invalid. 

Mere visitors should not be allowed to remain in the sick-room 
more than five minutes, just long enough to allow a friendly 
greeting, and the expression of a hope that soon all will be well 
again, with the communication of such intelligence as might 
make a pleasant impression on the mind. Avoid questioning very 
sick persons as to the state of their health. They seldom know 
exactly how they are; are rarely good j udges of their condition. 
They may feel as if they did not know whether they were any 
better or worse, and the very effort to come to a truthful decision 
in their own minds is at times quite exhausting, especially if the 
questions are repeated by the nurse or every visitor. A good 
nurse will know how the patient is without inquiry a great deal 
better than the patient, than convalescents especially; for as per¬ 
sons are getting well, particularly from serious or long illness, 
they are very desponding, and often think they are going to die, 
when it is clear to the physician and nurse that the crisis is just 
over, and that recovery is quite certain. 

Nor should the nurse ask the patient if anything is wanted, or 
what he will have. Nine times out of ten the sick don’t know 
what they want, and instinctively avoid the effort of deciding 
what they want. Besides, they are very apt to want what it 
would be very unwise to give. Then it is mere trifling to ask 
the question. 

A competent nurse can anticipate a patient’s needs, leaving 
wants out of the question ; can tell better than the patient what 
is required, and what is best to be done. 


56 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


Whatever is said to a patient should be as hopeful and assuring 
as is compatible with truthfulness; and it is only necessary to 
suggest that every expression should be avoided which is calculated 
to. excite apprehension or even disquietude, such as “You have 
changed a great deal,” “ I would not have known you,” “ You 
are very sick,” “ I am afraid you will not get well,” and yet 
these things have been said to the sick. 

Never whisper in a sick-room, or speak in a low tone. Let 
everything uttered be in a clear voice, distinctly enunciated, so 
that the patient may hear it. This self-evident propriety is too 
often disregarded by even rational people. Never look sideways 
at a patient, or seem to be scanning him. On the other hand, 
never stare. The moment you are out of conversation, leave the 
room. It is not uncommon to see a person sit with his eyes fixed 
on the patient for one, two, or more minutes, not knowing what 
to say, compelling the sick one to keep up the conversation; or, 
if they do talk, the remarks are of the most commonplace kind. 

Never wake a patient, even to give medicine or to dress a 
wound, for sleeping is a healing process, giving strength and 
life. In almost all sickness a tendency to sleep is a favorable 
sign. 

Let the patient alone. This is said in reference to many who 
wait on the sick who are incessantly doing something, either fix¬ 
ing up the room, adjusting the bed-clothes, or making some 
change, all of which tend to break up the quiet so necessary to an 
invalid. On the other hand, if the patient is in his right mind, 
and seems disposed to talk, or is inclined to ask questions, then 
it is advantageous to engage in conversation, but do not allow 
it to fall into a line of despondency. The good nurse will know 
how to lead the way to subjects which are interesting and cheer¬ 
ing- . 

It is better to have two nurses in serious cases, so as to alter¬ 
nate several times in the twenty-four hours, for a sleepy or an 
overtaxed nurse can easily kill a patient whose life is haiminfr bv 
a thread. 

Avoid as much as possible bringing in a new nurse, especially 
a stranger. It discomposes the patient. The introduction into 
the house of a new servant is disquieting to healthy people. 

It is better to have a woman to nurse a man. There is a gen¬ 
tleness, a sympathy in woman. There is a magnetism in "her 


DUTIES OF NURSES. 


57 


touch, in the softness of her voice; a carrying away the mind to 
mother and sister, which is peculiarly grateful to a sick man. 
Besides, a woman has that instinctiveness of perception of what 
is needed, of what would add to the patient’s comfort in a thou¬ 
sand little ways, which is of infinite advantage. 

On the other hand, a man nurse is best for a woman, -who feels 
all the time as if she wanted strength under her, firmness. It is 
best for a sick woman to feel all the time she “ must.” She will 
bend to a man’s will; she would to a woman’s, never. She im¬ 
peratively needs confidence, reliance, some one to look to. This 
gives courage and hopefulness, very necessary elements as helps 
in recovery from disease. 

The patient should have all the clothing of the body changed 
once a day; and, if possible, the bed should be made night and 
morning. And several times during the day and night the bed¬ 
clothes should be raised up from the body and let fall again, so 
as to drive out the confined air; or they should be thrown back 
towards the feet, to allow a full airing, while both bedclothes and 
body clothing should be kept most scrupulously clean. If at any 
time a drop of blood or other soiling should take place, the gar¬ 
ment should be changed. 

Prevent all surprises to a patient, especially disagreeable ones. 
To this end allow no one not of the household to enter a sick¬ 
room without first acquainting the sufferer, and getting permission; 
ascertaining also that it is a hearty assent. 

The nurse owes several duties to the medical attendant,— 

First. Be able to give a clear, plain, and connected history 
of the case since his last visit. Mention all striking occurrences ; 
if instructions have not been strictly followed; if the medicines 
have not been taken as directed, or if taken, rejected before they 
could operate; notice the color, quantity, and consistence of all 
the bodily discharges, and if possible, especially in critical cases, 
preserve them, outside the doors of the house, for his inspec¬ 
tion. There are times and conditions when life depends on these 
things. 

Second. Hotice whether the patient sleeps much or little; if 
there is any tendency to being out of his mind, to mutterings, or 
moanings, or sighs. 

Hursing is an art, a science, an acquisition. Many a time a 
disease is conquered, but the patient fails to get well for want of 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOB. 


58 

proper attention, from in judiciousness in eating, to avoid which a 
good nurse will always make it a point to ascertain clearly and 
distinctly from the physician what the patient is to eat, how often, 
and how much, until he returns. 

As a very general rule, sick persons should not eat oftener than 
at intervals of five hours, unless so weak that but very little if 
anything, can be taken at a time. Then it may be better to eat 
oftener, at less intervals; but these are rare exceptions, and it is 
better to let the physician mark them out. One rule is always 
applicable : take but a few mouthfuls of any strange or unusual 
food or drink. Hecpiire the patient to eat slowly, and cut up all 
food very fine. Meats especially should be in pieces not larger 
than a pea, for then they are more easily dissolved in the juices 
of the stomach, as small bits of ice are sooner melted in a glass of 
water than large ones. 


RECAPITULATION. 

1. Be cpiiet. 

2. Be decided. 

3. Be composed. 

4. Be firm. 

5. Be sympathetic. 

6. Consult your patient's wants, but do it as seldom as possible, 
to save him from the mental labor of comparing and weighing 
reasons, and deciding for himself. 

7. Never seem to compel your patient to do anything, but lead 
him to do what is right; this is the triumph of good management. 

8. Be clear in all your communications, and distinct in every 
word or syllable you say, without being loud or severe. The very 
effort at listening is sometimes exhaustive of the little strength 
the invalid has. 

9. Never peep, nor poke, nor pother. 

10. No trickeries nor deceptions in the sick-cliamber. 

11. Be always on the alert. 

12. Sameness is terrible to one who has been long an invalid ; 
hence, make some change in the room every day; not many, one 
or two at a time. Either change the position of some one or two 
things already in the room, or introduce a picture or painting, or 
even a bunch of flowers; these often enliven a room very much; 


CHEER THE SICK 


59 


at one time on tlie mantel, at another on the table, or in the win¬ 
dow. Flowers of bright colors are best, if placed in among green 
sprigs, avoiding those of a strong or coarse odor. If a picture, 
let it be lively; let it be of the spring time, of .childhood, or 
pastures green, with the lambkins or the little chickens; some¬ 
thing which will remind of youth and innocence. These may 
appear to be small matters to the well and hearty, but to the 
poor invalid, who has been at death’s door for weary weeks and 
months, and is just rising up to light and life again, they have an 
incalculable value, and for their sake and good, especial attention 
should be given to the suggestions. 

The effervescing, the overflowing, the irrepressible good-humor 
of Franklin made a way for him wherever he went; in Christian 
America, in the halls of Congress, in infidel France, in the age of 
her disgraceful and inhuman and bloody revolution, Franklin was 
alike successful in carrying out his political purposes. What a 
life lights up in every eye, how instinctively a private company 
or a public crowd make way for a man who is known to be full 
of fun, to be a jovial soul. But good nature has its foundation in 
good health, in an industrious, temperate life, with a loving heart 
at the bottom of it all. And how much more will it help to buoy 
up the spirits of the invalid, and antagonize the depressions which 
so retard the recovery of the sick! 

SICKNESS 

and pain and suffering are the result of an unequal circulation of 
blood in the body, too little at one point, too much at another; 
equalizing that circulation, so that each part of the system shall 
have its natural and healthful share, is appropriately called 

THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE, 

And the persons who bring about this result are termed Physi¬ 
cians, from the Greek word Phusis , which means Nature, as the 
physician brings about the natural order of things in the body. 

In the early ages, when a man was sick he would place himself 
at the entrance of the town, or at the gate of the city, in the hope 
that some one passing might be able to tell him what would 
effect a cure, from his having had the malady himself. It was 
then very natural for the man who was thus cured to speak of it 


60 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


to others who might he afflicted in the same or in any similar 
way, and for the sake of going to headquarters the question 
would he put, What was his name, where does he live, “ what did 
he do to thee ? How opened he thine eyes ? ” 

This man being visited at his house, taking up his time to re¬ 
store a stranger to health, and succeeding, would he entitled to 
more than the mere thanks of one who had been so much benefit¬ 
ed, and in gratitude the convalescent would compensate him to 
a certain extent in the form of a present. This is the method to 
this day in Heidelberg and other parts of Germany; the physi¬ 
cians there make no charge for their services, but leave it to the 
patient to give what he pleases. 

It is very easy to see that after a man has been called upon at 
first for one disease, then for a similar affection, he would natu¬ 
rally extend his knowledge and his skill from the mere force of 
observation and experience, and in the course of years would 
become skilful and of repute. 

In the progress of civilization the sick could not visit the phy¬ 
sician, but he, being well, could visit the sick; and as this would 
take time, it very naturally came about that he should be paid for 
his services, and, as in all other callings, fix his own price, as phy¬ 
sicians now do. But in these later years, when all things—time 
and skill, among others—have high values, and as in civilization 
it is the tendency of the poor to become poorer, and the rich 
richer, only the rich and the well-to-do can pay for personal 
medical services; the masses cannot indulge in the luxury of 
having a physician drive to their doors'in his carriage, for the use 
of him, his vehicle, his horses, and his coachman has to be paid 
for; lienee these poor people must suffer in patience until time, 
the great restorer and destroyer, brings about the result of health 
or death. 

It would seem, then, a humanity for a physician to write his 
experiences, and those of others, in the course of ages and 
centuries, for the benefit of those who are too sick to come 
to him, and too poor to have him come to them. In this 
way, the cost of a single medical visit in a great city would 
supply a family with a volume, giving information by which the 
name and nature of ordinary ailments could be known, telling 
what things would benefit and cure such ailments, and how best 
to use them to that end. Such is the object, aim, and end in the 


POISONS ANTAGONIZED. 


61 


preparation of this volume, as also to meet other requirements 
of emergencies in sickness and accident when there is no time to 
wait—when something must be done on the spot, or the man is 
dead; an artery has been divided, and the red blood spurts out 
in jets so rapidly that if not arrested on the instant, as in the case 
mentioned in the preface, a life becomes extinct in a few mo¬ 
ments, but could be saved had it been known that a common 
handkerchief tied loosely around the arm above the wound,—that 
is, between the wound and the heart,—a short stick run through 
it and twisted down until the blood ceases to flow, would give 
time for the surgeon to arrive and stanch the wound. A member 
of the family takes by mistake a large amount of laudanum or a 
swallow or two of oxalic acid dissolved in water, or corrosive sub- 

y 

limate in liquid form, both used for domestic purposes; something 
must be done within ten minutes or deatli ensues. It is a positive 
humanity to have in the house a book giving plain information 
which will save life, by turning to the proper chapter, where it 
will be seen that there are two kinds of poisons, those which are 
called “ corrosive,” and those which are constitutional, requiring 
less haste ; it is there seen that all corrosive poisons give a sen¬ 
sation of scalding in the throat on the instant; constitutional poisons, 
such as morphia, opium, paregoric, laudanum, and the like may be 
swallowed without any hurting or pain, and their effects come on 
slowly, usually giving abundant time to obtain a physician. In the 
case of the virulent or corrosive poison something must be swal¬ 
lowed on the instant which will not only soothe the throat in its 
passage to tlie stomach, but will rapidly mix with the swallowed 
poison in the stomach, and dilute it so largely that it will be pre¬ 
vented from burning the coats of the stomach, as it did the throat; 
here nothing could be more appropriately done than to swallow 
half a pint of sweet oil, an article which almost every family has 
in the house. That is the best kind of oil to be taken, because it 
is the mildest; if that cannot be obtained, then butter, as soon 
as it can be made thin enough by melting to admit of swallowing, 
or linseed oil, in fact any greasy or oily thing, hog’s lard, goose 
grease, and the like. The principle is,’ swallow instantly some 
kind of mild, oily substance which will antagonize the poison in 
the manner named. 

If, on the other hand, laudanum or.morphia or any other nar¬ 
cotic has been swallowed in dangerous quantities, the first best 


02 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


remedy is to mix a tablespoonful of salt and a tablespoon of 
ground mustard; stir them rapidly in a glass of warm or cool 
water and drink it down; on the instant of its reaching the 
stomach it will so irritate it as to cause vomiting and the whole 
contents will be thrown up, poison and all; the principle being 
to get it out of the stomach before it can have any injurious 
effect; then, for fear every particle of the poison might not have 
been ejected, swallow the whites of two or three eggs; if the 
hurry is great, swallow yolk, whites, and all; but it is' the white 
of the egg which has a chemical effect on the poison, making it 
innocuous ; if eggs are not at hand, drink a cup of strong coffee, 
which also antagonizes all poisons in small quantities of the nature 
of opium, morphine, and the like. 

So it is with reference to every variety of accident which is 
liable to befall any member of any family, a book in the house 
which can be turned to with confidence, which gives safe di¬ 
rections and with perfect plainness, is of an incomparable value 
in the household of the crowded city as well as at the secluded 
hut or farm-house in the country; for persons who have lived 
long in a great city have come to the knowledge of cases where 
a physician could not be had within an hour or two or three, or 
at midnight in storms of wind or rain or hail; or about eleven 
o’clock in the forenoon, when city practitioners are on their rounds 
of visiting for the day, many of them not to return for three or 
four hours. In the country, it is still more disastrous to need 
medical aid at midnight, or on an emergency in the day-time; 
the doctor’s shop two, three, or ten miles away, and no other 
physician within as many miles in any direction; for reaching 
his house in time to learn that he has gone in an opposite di¬ 
rection to superintend a confinement, and there is no knowing 
when he will return; and as every household is liable to have 
such and similar cases to occur at any time, it is scarcely less 
than a criminal negligence to have no • * 

“ FAMILY DOCTOR ” 

in the house in the shape of a plain and reliable health-advi¬ 
sing book, such as this volume aims to be. It is true that 
such books are almost universally condemned by educated phy¬ 
sicians, as doing more harm than good, which is possible ; but 
that results from a defect in the book, and not the principle on 


GOOD FAMILY DOCTOR. 


G3 


which it is sought to he distributed all over the country. Medi¬ 
cal books for family use hitherto have failed to meet the family 
wants in several most important respects. They failed to desig¬ 
nate the ailment with sufficient clearness to enable the ordinary 
reader to decide certainly whether the symptoms observed were 
those of a malady in hand ; it was necessary to know what the 
disease was, before they could obtain the information needed as a 
means of cure. 

They failed to tell the nature of the disease, what conditions 
were induced by it, and how the remedies removed those con¬ 
ditions. 

They failed to tell how the remedies employed were expected 
to operate; hence,in many cases, where the medicine was old and 
had lost its power, while the patient was waiting to get better 
from its use, not knowing how it should act, invaluable time was 
lost. In ordinary family medicine-books, in describing any par¬ 
ticular disease, a dozen or more symptoms are mentioned as at¬ 
tending that disease; but perhaps on the very next page, another 
disease would be described with nearly all the symptoms of the 
other; lienee the person seeing these two descriptions would be 
unable, without long study and painful uncertainty, to decide in 
his own mind what was the disease in hand. 

It is well known among medical lecturers that in speaking of 
different diseases to the young gentlemen attending the first year’s 
course, they frequently imagine that they have each disease as it 
is lectured upon. 

In these pages these objections are sought to be obviated ; for 
example, take one case which will exemplify all—very few know 
the difference between diarrhoea and dysentery. The same causes 
can produce both diseases. There are quite a number of symp¬ 
toms common to both, such as fever, thirst, quick pulse, frequent 
passages, no appetite, pain, restlessness, dry skin, a feeling of 
despondency, of utter giving up, as if the bed was the most com¬ 
fortable place possible, and no desire to leave it—all these things 
may be said of both ailments, yet no hint is given by which it 
could be told with positive certainty which was the disease pres¬ 
ent. The principles proposed in this volume relieve the reader 
from such a vexing uncertainty; for, instead . of mentioning a 
dozen different.symptoms,.the one or two things are named with¬ 
out which one of these diseases could not possibly be present: 


64 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


thus, dysentery means a discharge of blood from the bowels; 
bleeding piles is also a discharge from the bowels; but the thing 
which makes it dysentery, and it being present, and always pres¬ 
ent, rendering it absolutely impossible for it to be anything else 
than 


DYSENTERY, 

is the fact that these bloody discharges are always attended with 
an intolerable tormina and tenesmus, as the doctors express it—a 
distressing bearing down and straining; there is an urgent feeling 
of desire to go to stool; but on attempting to do something, to 
evacuate, nothing comes; or, if anything comes, it is a little 
blood, not at all satisfying of the desire to discharge. Dysentery, 
then, is a discharge of blood from the bowels, with a distressing 
sensation, and unless it is blood it cannot be dysentery. In some 
cases, in most cases, afterwards, in treating of the subject, it may 
be necessary to mention other than the distinctive symptoms of 
the disease; but it is our plan to first give, as far as possible, the 
very few symptoms which belong to the disease, and no other. 

The point aimed at when a case of sickness is presented, is to 
direct the reader’s mind to the prominent, to the most striking 
symptom, the one which most impressively strikes the attention; 
for example— 

CROUP, 

the peculiar cough which, when once heard by a mother, can 
never be forgotten or mistaken, is a cough belonging to no other 
known disease, a kind of barking, wheezing cough, bri ng ing noth- 
ing with it; and to make it more certain, if indeed anything else 
were required to show that it was croup, there is the distressing 
breathing, short and heavily. 

The reader is made acquainted with the essential nature of the 
disease, that it is a closing up of the windpipe by the gradual 
formation of a tough lining getting thicker and thicker until the 
windpipe is clogged up, and breathing and life cease together. 
It is -explained that the object of the remedies used is to detach 
this substance, to loosen it, so that it may come away in whole or 
in part ; if then, within a few moments, the whole formation 
comes away in a body • or in detached pieces, then the mother 


TWO ESSENTIAL THINGS. 


65 


knows in an instant that the remedy has taken effect, that 
what was intended to he done has been done, and that a cure is 
certain. But suppose this explanation of the nature of the disease 
and of what the medicine was intended to accomplish had not been 
made, the medicine would have been blindly given, and not know¬ 
ing what it was expected to do, the anxious, trembling, and de¬ 
spairing parent waits in agony, and while she waits, if the medi¬ 
cine had lost its virtue, the child dies. 

For these reasons it is hoped that this family medicine book 
will supply a want which has never been met by any of its prede¬ 
cessors at home or abroad, not only in these particulars but in 
many others, which the intelligent reader will find out as he turns 
over the pages. 

It is earnestly desired to impress on the mind 

TWO ESSENTIAL THINGS. 

1st. Call a doctor wherever you can, and thus relieve yourself 
from a very painful feeling of responsibility and a most distress¬ 
ing sense of groping in the dark ; and 

2d. Bead at leisure, when not disturbed with a case of sickness 
in the family, the first chapters of the book under the heading of 

Sickness, 

Principles of Medical Practice, and 

Congestion. 

These will give you a olear and comprehensive idea of the whole 
theory of the nature of disease and the philosophy of the practice of 
medicine. You will then have such an intelligent view of the scope 
of the book, that the perusal of any chapter and the management 
of any case yourself, when a physician cannot be had, will be a 
source of the very deepest interest, and will enable you to observe 
disease with an understanding and with an intelligence which will 
be deeply gratifying. 

It was said in the beginning that disease consisted in the irre¬ 
gular circulation of the blood, and that its cure was accomplished 
by equalizing this circulation, causing the blood to be sent to 
every part of the body in its natural and healthful quantity. The 
physician does not send it there he has only to remove obstruc¬ 
tions, to remove an overloading, that is, to clear out channels 
which are filled up (see article on “ Congestion”), and Nature takes 
5 


66 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


the remainder of the work in hand. In all diseases there is ex¬ 
cess of blood somewhere; take away that excess and the circulation 
assumes its natural conditions, as a spring rebounds to its proper 
place the moment the pressure is removed. 

The practice of medicine, then, consists in equalizing the cir¬ 
culation in such a manner that no part of the body shall have 
more than its natural healthful share of blood. There are half a 
dozen ways of causing the blood to be distributed in proper pro¬ 
portions to the different parts of the body, but the office which 
medicine is to perform in bringing about this result will be"ex- 
emplified in these pages in connection with the treatment of the 
various diseases to which the human body is exposed; it is 
designed here to show what is first to be done in all ordinary 
cases of sickness, what is most applicable and most efficient, and 
how to make the application which seldom or never comes amiss. 

Warmth, quiet, and purgation are the very first things to be 
brought about in an attack of sickness. These, better than all 
others, withdraw excess of blood from the parts suffering, and 
send it to such as most require its life-giving influences. Warmth, 
by inducing more or less of perspiration, lessens the quantity of 
blood in the body, besides rendering it more liquid, for cold 
congeals it. 

Purgation, as explained under its proper heading, also dimin¬ 
ishes, to a large extent, the quantity of the blood, and removes a 
vast amount of the solid wastes and worn-out and effete matters, 
which, if allowed to remain, would only poison the blood, and 
thus render it unfit for the purposes of life. 

Warmth is best secured by being put to bed, the clothing 
inched closely in at the sides, drinking meanwhile large draughts 
of any pleasant tea, or even simple hot water. If the feet are cold, 
place close up to them hot bottles or bricks wrapped in woollen, 
which will maintain the heat longest; if this is not sufficient, 
bottles of hot water may be placed at the arm pits, and cushions 
of warm salt, or ashes—which are lighter—over the pit of the 
stomach ; if these are managed in such a way as to induce free 
perspiration, and this is kept up half an hour, or long enough to 
give considerable relief, then it is important to cool off very grad¬ 
ually, requiring half an hour to do it; first laying one covering 
half back, then three-quarters, as far down as the knees, giving 
the legs and feet extra covering; then it may be well to place 



NURSING THE SICK 


67 


one arm out from under cover, then another, and so on until the 
patient is comfortably cooled, and yet feels comfortably warm. 
But these good effects would be greatly increased if, before put¬ 
ting the patient to bed, an enema was administered (which sec); 
or, if the bowels have not acted within twenty-four hours, take a 
dose of castor-oil (which see); or, better still, a purgative or liver 
pill, as a means of more radical relief and a permanent cure. 
There is scarcely a fever that can be named, not a single malady 
of the throat, lungs, or bowels, not a pain or ache in the whole 
body, which would not be more or less alleviated by the treat¬ 
ment named, if anything' could alleviate. 

If parents could be persuaded, could be made to feel that it was 
their duty to render themselves adepts in administering the few 
remedial means just alluded to, and do it promptly, it would fore¬ 
stall more than half the sufferings’from ordinary ailments; if 
adopted the moment a person is known to have taken cold, it 
w T ould avert and cut short off nine-tenths of all the colds to which ' 
humanity is liable, and thus prevent an incalculable amount of 
sickness, suffering, and premature death. 

While medicines are a great blessing when j udiciously adminis¬ 
tered, the time comes to every one, sooner or later, when they ut¬ 
terly fail of their legitimate effects, for 

MAN IS BORN TO DIE. 


There are other cases where the patient is in the condition of 
one of old, who “suffered many things of many physicians,” and 
was nothing better, but rather grew worse! Sometimes such a 
result arises from the fact that the appropriate medicine has not 
been administered. 

When the medicine seems to do no good, then cease taking it, 
and aim to recover from the sickness by attending to the 

GENERAL HEALTH. 


And it is especially requested that the chapter on that subject 
should be read repeatedly, thoughtfully, and with great care; in 
fact, it is of vital importance for the following reason . 

Medicine sometimes brings the patient forward to a certain 
point of health, there it seems to lose all further- effect; then 
the only means left of completing the cure are those which keep up 
the general health to the highest possible point; for in doing this 


# 


08 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


the blood is to that extent purified, made health-giving, vitalizing, 
and as it is sent to the most distant parts of the body, as well as 
to those parts which are inaccessible to the physician, these parts 
are vitalized, and health is gradually restored. V ery many cases 
of 

INCIPIENT CONSUMPTION 

Could be arrested if means were adopted to keep up the general 
health in the manner described in the article under that heading. 

One of the most prevalent of all female diseases, for which innu¬ 
merable washes and lotions have been devised from time immemo¬ 
rial, has never yet been remedied permanently and radically by any 
of them, or by any medicine, except in proportion as these have had 
an influence in keeping up the general health. Many persons find 
themselves in a condition expressively described in the sentence: 
“ The least thing in the world gives me a cold.” There may be 
no specific disease in the system at the time, no special organ is 
particularly out of order to which medicine might be directed, 
there is only a general want of vigor to resist the ordinary causes 
of bad colds. The best means of breaking up this remarkable sus¬ 
ceptibility to colds is to improve the general health, that is, give 
greater purity to the blood ; that purity gives it a vigor of circu¬ 
lation which wakes up all the activities of the constitution, and 
very generally produces effects such as described. 

ILLUSTRATION. 

During this writing a young lady of twenty, in Boston, was taken 
with bleeding at the lungs, in small quantities, repeated during 
several days, a hard heavy cough, difficult breathing on lying 
down, and excessive debility, with no appetite. Several of her 
schoolmates had recently been taken in the same way and died;, 
these symptoms pointed to the lungs as the diseased part; they 
were so full of blood that the vessels were barely able to contain 
it, in fact some little was oozing out all the time; the face was 
pale, the tongue very much coated, showing that the blood was 
tending internally about the lungs and liver and heart. Both 
lungs and liver needed prompt relief; the want of it too long 
would endanger life, in fact had been fatal to several others. As 
soon as attention was brought to the case, 

All eating from the instant was prohibited. 

To be kept warm in bed. To take a liver pill. 


BATHS AND BATHING. 


69 


That pill acted, of itself, very largely within twelve hours; 
within twenty hours after the pill was swallowed the patient was 
hungry! The face regained its natural color, 

THE BLEEDING CEASED, 

the tongue was clearing off, the cough disappeared altogether; in 
two days the patient got about again, and no further medical atten¬ 
tion was needed, because of the prompt action of the friends 
without that loss of time, hoping it would pass off of itself when the 
debility was all the while increasing, and the heart and lungs be¬ 
coming more and more oppressed; in this case the calomel cleared 
out the gorged, congested channels of the liver, diminished largely 
the bulk of the blood, as explained in the article on “ Congestion,” 
and the patient saved from the prescription of the physician sev¬ 
eral hundred miles away; a case very grave, and to the point as 
illustrating the doctrine of 

CONGESTION, 

of too much blood at a part, as the cause of disease; and the phi¬ 
losophy of the treatment, in diminishing the quantity of the blood 
in the whole body, and proportionally of the part affected, as a 
means of cure, by means of medicines which act upon the liver 
and the bowels also. 

It is of little consequence where pain and disease are, in w T hat 
part of the body, in ordinary ailments; the course to be pursued is 
the same—diminish the amount of blood in the body, and that 
diminution will make itself felt in any ailing part. 

-- 

BATHS AND BATHING. 

ft 

Tiie room in which a bath is taken should be at seventy-fk e 
degrees F., or, in the absence of a thermometer, it should not be 
so cool as to cause an unpleasant sensation of coldness when the 
body emerges from the water. 

For ordinary purposes of cleanliness the bath should be of w arm 
water with soap, rubbed well in with the hand or sponge, reach¬ 
ing every part of the body possible, rinsing off afterwards so that 
there shall be no soap left on the skin; in wiping dry with a 
towel, friction should not be spared, laying the towel flat on the 




70 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


hand, keeping the mouth closed, then rub with a will nearly as 
hard as the hand can press, then for a minute or two more rub in 
the same way all over with the hands; this tends to soothe and 
soften the skin and impart a pleasant warmth to the surface. In 
taking this warm cleansing bath the water should indicate ninety- 
live degrees F.; seventy-five, for a cold bath; eighty-five, tepid; a 
hundred and five, hot. In taking a tepid or 

COLD BATH, 

the head should be wet with cold water, or forehead and face 
well washed with cold water, before getting into the bath tub. If 
the feet are cold, they should be soaked in hot water, half leg 
deep, until completely warm, before getting into the bath. These 
baths should be taken rapidly, the hands kept gently rubbing the 
limbs and body all the time, so as to keep up the circulation and 
thus prevent a feeling of chilliness, and, for the same reason, as 
soon as the body is out of the water it should T>e promptly and 
actively rubbed with a towel until perfectly dry, for if a feeling 
of chill runs over it, in the water or out of it, a great deal more 
harm has been done than good, by the whole process; in addi¬ 
tion, dress quickly, and if not perfectly comfortable as to warmth, 
take a brisk walk immediately, or chop or saw wood, or do some 
other thing wdiich will restore the circulation; if at night, or the 
weather is unsuitable, either go to a good fire, or into the kitchen, 
or to bed and wrap up, or dance vigorously until a sensation of 
comfortable warmth has been brought about, for persons have 
taken a chill in the bath which has resulted in death. The pre¬ 
caution should always be taken, in all forms of bathing, to stand on 
a piece of woollen carpet or mat in emerging from a bath, because 
it is essentially important that the feet should be warm; for 
coming in contact with the cold floor or oil-cloth a chill may be 
sent through the whole body. A gentleman in the advanced 
stages of consumption attributed his disease to standing on a 
piece of zinc on the bath-room floor, after taking his bath and 
while rubbing himself dry. 

TIME FOR BATHING. 

Persons in vigorous health, near the sea or river or lake, may 
safely walk half a mile before breakfast, jump in over head, swim 


BATHS AND BATHING. 


71 


around for five or ten minutes; dress quickly, walk rapidly home 
and take breakfast, and be all the better for it in summer-time. 
But for all ordinary purposes, a bath should be taken about ten or 
eleven o’clock in the forenoon ; having taken breakfast three hours 
earlier, for the human system is more vigorous at that time of 
day than at any other hour of the twenty-four* as it is at its lowest 
ebb about five o’clock in the morning, hence it is that more per¬ 
sons die at that hour than at any other of the twenty-four, under 
ordinary circumstances. 

A bath can do no good, but will always do harm, if the person is 

TIRED. 

% # 

Nor should any kind of bath be taken sooner than three hours 
after a regular meal, nor later than an hour or two before eating. 
Many persons have been found dead in the bath-room from taking 
a bath soon after a hearty dinner, even a warm bath. 

BATH FOR FEVER. 

If a person goes into a cold bath to cool off a fever, a hurtful 
and dangerous shock and chill may take place; it is safer and 
better, far more comfortable, and more efficient in cooling off the 
body, to have the water at eighty-five, bathe for a while, then 
gradually reduce it, but by no means to the extent of causing an 
uncomfortable feeling of coldness. It is safer to bathe in warm 
water to cool off a fever of the whole body, throwing the water 
upon it, running off, and thus allowing the evaporation to carry 
off the surplus heat. 

In all forms of bathing, hot, cold, or tepid, a damp towel or 
wetted cap should be worn on the head, or if the hair is short, it 
should be wetted several times. The most effective way of doing 
which is to douse the whole head and ears under water, the object 
being to prevent an excess of blood from going to the head ; fatal 
apoplexy has resulted in many cases from failing to take this pi e~ 
caution, of keeping the whole head wet or cold in all foims of 
bathing. The articles used for wiping off the body after a bath 

should be soft. 

If a person takes' a bath in a frail or feeble condition of the 
system, the whole body should be invested in a sheet the moment 


72 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


of emerging from tlie water ancl rubbed dry with it; this prevents 
chilliness ; then the whole surface of the body should be rubbed 
with the hands, all over the body as far as can be reached in every 
direction, mouth closed, bearing on with the hands as hard as con¬ 
venient ; this aids in promoting the circulation, in expanding the 
lungs, and softening and warming the skin; if the person is feeble, 
then this hand-rubbing should be performed by an attendant; in 
either case it should be done with rapidity and energy, and com¬ 
pleted within three minutes if there is any tendency to chilliness, 
for if a single chill runs over the body, or along the back, during 
or soon after the bathing, more harm has been done than good, 
hence any feeling of chilliness should be guarded against with 
great care ; after dressing rapidly, the invalid should go to the fire 
or into the sunshine, while those who are able should take a brisk 
and extended walk, or engage in some form of vigorous exercise 
involving muscular activities in the open air, to invigorate the 
circulation and bring it to a healthful glow to the very extremities 
of the system; sometimes in feeble persons it is best to go to bed, 
wrap up warm, and perhaps go to sleep, for to them rest from 
the tiredness or fatigue of the bath is of more importance than 
exercise, the warmth of the bed being a greater aid towards keep¬ 
ing up the circulation than motion of the limbs. But in all cases 
of bathing, if after a couple of hours there is a sense of weakness 
or fatigue or tiredness, an indisposition to move around, then the 
bath has been an injury. 

A HALF-BATII 

is taken by sitting in a vessel of water, six inches deep, feet ex¬ 
tended, wetting the head and forehead first with cold water ; then 
rubbing the limbs with the hands and throwing the water on the 
body and back, all being done in two or three minutes by the pa¬ 
tient or an attendant, according to the strength. If it is required to 
be done quickly, one person should rub the legs, another the back, 
and the bather the front part of the body; this gives him some 
exercise and tends to prevent chilliness, all hands rubbing briskly 
but lightly, throwing up the water on the body. 

PLUNGE-BATH. 

Go to the river or lake or sea-shore, undress quickly, wet the 


BATHS AND BATHING. 


73 


head and forehead well, jump in head over heels, swim around a 
few minutes, wipe dry, dress quickly, and walk away rapidly. 
This is for a healthy person, in warm weather. In cold weather 
there should be a tub or box of water four or five feet deep, 
broad enough to allow the bather to place the hands on the sides 
and jump in or out; allow the water to come to the chin, and 
conduct the whole operation to prevent chilliness. If the person 
is feeble this bath should be taken in bed, and should be per¬ 
formed by attendants; only a limb or small part of the body to 
be uncovered at a time, an arm or a limb extending over the side 
of the bed, using a soft towel dipped in tepid water, rubbing dry 
quickly with a soft cloth and then using the hands with quick 
friction. Judiciously done this is a great comfort to one having 
a burning fever in the hands and feet; if the body is ‘hot it is 
very agreeable to treat the back in this way, but in all these 
forms have a care not to weary the patient much, for weariness 
predisposes to chilliness, which would be unfortunate, and in the 
reaction would increase the heat and fever. This-mode of bath¬ 
ing, for purposes of mitigating fever, may be performed several 
times a day. 

TOWEL BATH. 

With all the clothing off, standing on a woollen mat, having 
wetted the head and forehead, dip a cloth in the water, press it 
out so as not to dribble, lay it flat on the palm of the hand, and 
with mouth closed and chest protuberant, rub the whole body 
well. This for a healthy person answers the purpose of a bath 
and cleanliness, can be done in one’s own room every morning in 
a few minutes, and without soiling the nicest carpet; it may be 
done to advantage every morning in summer and in winter, an¬ 
swers the purpose of a regular bath very well; it should be fol¬ 
lowed by a minute’s rapid hand-rubbing, dressing quickly; the 
whole operation, at least in winter, not to exceed three minutes. 

THE DRIPPING- SHEET. 

Dip a sheet in water of the required temperature, and taking 
it by the two corners, extending it, place it on the bather, very 
much as a shawl is placed by another on a lady’s shoulders. 1 his 
sheet should reach to the floor, and should envelope the whole per- 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


74 

son, rubbing with both hands over the sheet. After rubbing a 
minute over the back of body and limbs, put the sheet in the water 
again and place it on the front of the body, and proceed as before. 

DOUCHE-BATH. 

The water should be as high as eighty degrees; two, three, or 
half a dozen pails of water Should be thrown on a person in quick 
succession, he turning around all the time, so that all parts of the 
body may receive the water ; if the floor is slanting, or the person 
stands on slats laid across the floor, then the water runs off. 

THE PACK-BATH 

is a remedy on which hydropatliists place great reliance, and 
■when properly managed is of very great efficiency in a vari¬ 
ety of diseases, but liable to abuse, as other valuable remedies are. 
It is better taken on a lounge or cot, having ready for use 
several blankets or comfortables, to spread upon it, with a pillow. 
Over these spread a w r et sheet—not dripping—reaching to below 
the knees, making the upper part to extend high enough up to be 
wrapped around the head, lay on the back, the arms at the sides, 
draw the sheet quickly from the further side under the chin, and 
tuck it under on the side next the operator, and all along down 
the body to the feet. hText treat the near side of the sheet in the 
same way, then the blanket and the comfortables, being careful 
to wrap these round the feet well, to keep them warm; if they 
seem inclined to be cold, place hot bottles or bricks or blankets to 
them, outside the blanket which folds them. 

If, before taking the pack, there is any particular pain or ail¬ 
ment in any portion of the body, any extra amount of blood, 
venous or arterial, such as over the lungs, heart, and stomach, wring 
a flannel of several thicknesses in w T ater and lay it over the part 
before wrapping the wet sheet. 

If it was previously found that the person was much inclined to 
chilliness in getting on the wet sheet, lay a strip of flannel, six or 
eight inches broad, several folds, wrung out of hot water, on the 
wet sheet, so as to lie against the backbone inside the sheet; lay 
a cool towel on the forehead, and allow the patient quiet and 
sleep if desired, the attendant being present; remain in the sheet 


BATHS AND BATHING. 


75 


until comfortably warm, which usually happens in half an hour ; 
sometimes an hour elapses in persons of feeble circulation. Feeble 
persons should have a dry sheet thrown around them the instant 
of emerging from the pack; others may take a rapid general bath. 

THE SITZ-BATII. 

Take a common-sized tub with enough water to enable the pa¬ 
tient to sit in it without its overflowing; remove all the clothing, 
except shoes and stockings, and as soon as seated in the bath have 
the whole body enveloped with a comfortable or blanket; if the feet 
are cold, they should be placed in a vessel of warm water, having 
the head wrapped in a wet cloth, remaining in the bath near half 
an hour. 

FOOT-BATH. 

It is better to have a wooden pail, not very broad, so that it need 
not require a great deal of hot water when a hot foot-bath is 
taken, for when such a one is necessary, it is important to add hot 
water from time to time, that it may be at least as hot when the 
feet are taken out as when put in. 

In taking a hot foot-bath, the vessel should be deep enough to 
allow the water to come up near the knees. 

A TOE-BATH 

is advantageous sometimes after a hot bath, to cause a reaction. 
In such cases there should be cold water enough to cover the toes 
when the feet are in, both in at once, and to remain in not longer 
than .half a minute; such a bath adds greatly to the efficiency of 
a hot bath. As soon as the feet are taken out of the water, rub 
them dry, and hold them to a blazing fire, if convenient, having 
them rubbed with the hands until perfectly dry and warm in 
every part. 


FOMENTATIONS 

are valuable remedial means, often removing distressing pains 
and dangerous congestions. Let the patient lie on a doubled 
blanket, have a flannel of half a dozen thicknesses wrung out of * 
very hot water placed on the feet, draw the dry blanket o^ ei the 


76 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


body to keep it warm, tuck it in on both sides, and then spread 
over the other bed-clothing; as soon as the wet blanket begins to 
feel cool, say in ten minutes, then apply another hot one, hot 
enough to feel comfortable, being careful to have a cold, wet cloth 
on the head, and to have the feet wrapped up warm; when satis¬ 
factory relief has been obtained, remove everything, wash quick- 
ly in cool water, say of eighty-five degrees, and dry; the object 
being by the warm applications to open the pores of the skin and 
allow free exhalations, so as to relieve the parts ; then by the cold 
water to close the pores of the skin, and thus drive back the 
blood, to prevent that new accumulation which would but renew 
the trouble which it was the object to remove. 

TO TAKE A SWEAT 

Get in a sitz-bath, with the feet in a hot bath, all as warm as can 
be well borne, cover the whole body, and add hot water from 
time to time as the other cools ; keep the head well wet with cold 
water all the time ; after the perspiration has continued long 
enough, take quickly a half-bath or dripping sheet, at not lower 
than eighty degrees, for an instant only and go to bed at once. 

The favorite hydropathic method of curing a bad cold, recent¬ 
ly taken by a healthy person, is to take a profuse sweat, go instant¬ 
ly to a pack of eighty degrees, followed by a dripping sheet, go 
to bed, and for two or three days eating sparingly of coarse breads, 
fruits, and vegetables. 

STOMACH BATH 

may be of hot water or cold ; if it is wished to cause vomiting, 
drink water of the most sickening temperature to the patient, from 
ninety to a hundred degrees, a teacupful every five minutes un¬ 
til the stomach relieves itself f ully ; when desirable to keep up the 
vomiting, continue the water; if the person is sick at stomach to 
begin with, vomiting usually takes place by the time a pint or two 
of water has been swallowed. The stomach is sometimes “ washed 
out ” with cold water when it is feverish or when there is great 
thirst; this may be a means of causing an action of the bowels; 
, or on rising in the morning, free action of the bowels is induced 
by after breakfast, if several glasses of cold water are drunk. 


BATES AND 'BATHING. 


77 


RECTAL baths, 

or injections, clysters, or enemas (the last is the name preferred 
by physicians) means throwing np into the rectum, or lower bowel, 
fluid substances, mainly for the purpose of obviating constipation, 
either by dissolving the hardened faeces, or. by causing such a 
distention of the parts as to excite the natural desire for their ex¬ 
pulsion. Pure water is usually employed, cool or warm or.tepid ; 
they all act in the same way—distend the bowel. It is usually 
best to have the temperature most agreeable to the patient; some¬ 
times a litte salt is added to the water in the belief that it has 
some stimulating effect on the parts, above that of cold w T ater. 
Half a pint or pint may be thrown up, enough to produce the in¬ 
tended effect of a contraction of the bowels, which is an operation 
like that of emptying a bladder of fluid by pressing it with the 
hand, only that the bowel causes the expulsion by the power it has 
of contracting upon itself. 

This is a method of relieving the system when there is urgency, 
or when all medicines fail, as is sometimes the case. Under such 
circumstances an enema is permissible, but to employ it frequent¬ 
ly as a means of avoiding constipation, or of removing costiveness, 
is objectionable, because the oftener it is done the more nature 
seems to require the aid, oftener and oftener, until such a habit 
has been established that the bowels are evacuated only when an 
injection is taken, and a lifetime habit is established of taking an 
injection every day, which involves an immense amount of trou¬ 
ble and inconvenience and discomfort, and yet there are not a 
few who have arrived at this most unnatural condition of things, 
from not knowing the tendency of injections persisted in. 

When persons cannot swallow, both food and medicines have 
been thrown up the rectum as a substitute for taking them into 
the stomach, but with not any very encouraging results. 

VAGINAL BATHS, 

or injections, are used as a means of cleansing the parts and of 
giving them tone. In cases of leucorrhcea. great good has been 
done by the use of water, as cleansing, but much injury by im¬ 
pregnating it with astringents, such as alum, the infusion of white- 


78 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


oak bark, bn elm, and similar substances, for they are not curative, 
they only palliate, give temporary relief, thus losing valuable 
time which ought to be employed in the cure, in the eradication 
of the malady; for the longer it remains in the system the more 
it debilitates, and the more difficult it is of removal. 

LOCAL BATHS. 

Sometimes it is of advantage to throw a stream of water against 
a particular part of the body to remove swelling, or painful in¬ 
flammations or congestions ; very painful sprains and strains have 
been greatly benefited by this means; sometimes a stream of 
water along the spine is of very great service. In cities and pri¬ 
vate houses where w T ater is supplied by means of pipes, the follow¬ 
ing expedient will afford the means of such local baths, vaginal or 
otherwise: Have an india-rubber tube of any convenient leno-th 
large enough at the end to be drawn over the mouth of the faucet 
through which the water is to come; to the other end have an 
ivory mouth attached, with a fixture which by a turn will let on 
or shut off the water; with such an apparatus water can be 
directed in a stream to any portion of the body, and can be made 
to subserve many valuable purposes. 

Where there are no water-pipes, have a barrel of water in the 
room above, with a hole in the floor, or raise the barrel several 
feet in the same room, or have it outside on an elevated platform, 
attach to it a tube like the tube above named, only longer ; the 
quantity and force of the water used can be regulated by the 
stop-cock or screw at the ivory end. 


WET BANDAGES • 

can be made to subserve a variety of good uses ; if properly man- 
aged great medicinal effects can be accomplished by them. The 
best material for the purpose* is soft Irish linen of a heavy 
material, although common muslin will answer a good purpose. 

ABDOMINAL BANDAGES 

when applicable, should be from six to fourteen inches broad, and 
long enough to go around the body once and a half, so as to have 
two thicknesses in front; wet one so as not to dribble, and when 


BATES AND BATHING. 


70 


applied, put another bandage over that of muslin or wool, to be 
broader than the wet one, so as to overlap the edges of the wet 
one and keep in the steam. These bandages should be wetted 
every three or four hours, often enough to prevent them from 
getting dry ; the object of keeping a wet cloth next the skin is to 
warm it, keep it warm, open its pores, and thus give exit to 
matters in the form of vapor or steam which are causing the 
disturbance. To derive the fullest advantage from the applica¬ 
tion of wet cloths, the dry ones should be so adjusted as to keep 
touching the skin ail the time, for if they do not, not only does 
the steam escape, but cold air gets in and chills the part, thus 
aggravating the trouble. Many persons fail to get the full, or 
sometimes any advantage from these 

LOCAL STEAM BATHS, 

.from want of attention in this particular item, especially when 
applied to the throat for the ordinary soreness of a common cold 
or from hoarseness. If no special benefit is derived from a throat 
bandage after a few applications, it is better to discontinue them. 
It is only in acute cases, such as last a day or two in connec¬ 
tion with a common cold, that throat bandages are advised. 

WET JACKETS 

are used to advantage in fevers ; they can be made in effect 
with a broad bandage to cover the chest or abdomen, or both, 
or a real jacket with holes for the arms; in either case there 
should be three or four thicknesses in front; they need not be 
dampened at the back, especially if there should be a disposition 

to chilliness. 

WET CAHS. 

These may be made very useful in headaches, and are always 
safe to be worn in going into a bath of any kind. Take a piece 
of linen long enough to reach around the head above the ears, 
and about four inches broad when doubled ; sew the ends to¬ 
gether, and gather up the upper edges so as to co^.ei the head. 
Wet with cold water, let it come over the forehead, and re-apply 
the water before it gets a little dry; the point is to keep it wet all 
the time, as by the evaporation it keeps the head cool, relieves 


80 


HALL'S FAMLLT DOCTOR 


fever and inflammation, and sometimes gives relief in severe 
headaches. 

COMPRESSES 

are wet cloths applied to limited surfaces, and should be of sev¬ 
eral thicknesses, dipped in hot, tepid, or cold water, pressed out 
so as not to dribble, laid flat on the part, then a dry cloth of two 
or three folds laid over them in such a way that it shall extend 
an inch or more beyond the wet edges, to keep in the steam, the 
warm, moist air, which by the evaporating influences and effects 
caries off the ill-humors and fever which occasion the trouble. 

Sometimes a piece of oiled silk is preferable to the dry cloth, 
as it is less bulky,' and answers the object desired more perfectly. 

THE EYE-BATH. 

There are various circumstances wherein bathing the eyes in 
warm or cold water, or both alternately, does great good; the 
best plan, if they are feverish and hot, or are bleary, is to have a 
basin of quite warm water, and flap it up against the closed eye 
with the hand in such a way that the hand or fingers shall not 
strike opposite the eye-ball; let the palm of the hand be bent out¬ 
wards, thus carrying more water against the eye, and let the ends 
of the fingers strike against the bridge of the nose or side of it; 
this warm water at every dash carries away heat by the evapora¬ 
tion, and is very grateful to the eye ; then, if agreeable, open the 
eyes in the water as long as you can hold the breath, this may be 
repeated once or twice; then use cold water in the same way, first 
the flapping a few times only, then open them or not in the cold 
water, as may be agreeable or beneficial, but the cold water should 
be used rapidly, the object being to close the pores and prevent 
the excess of blood coming to the eye which caused the fever, by 
diminishing the calibre of the blood-vessels, for the smaller that 
calibre, the less blood can come, and cold does contract them. 

Such a bathing is very grateful just before going to bed, when 
the eyes have been much used in reading or fine sewing, especially 
if they feel hot, or if there is a fulness or other uncomfortable 
feeling about them. 

When persons wake up in the morning with eyelids glued to¬ 
gether, it will be found a great comfort to have a basin of warm 
water brought, put the face in it, and open the eyes in it, and 


BATES AND BATHING. 


81 


then go on as before; thus the hard matter will he softened, and 
removed by the finger-ends instead of the finger-nails, which is 
too common, and is always very hurtful to the eyes and eyelids— 
always irritating them, and setting up more or less of an inflam¬ 
mation. If warm water is not at hand, take some saliva on the 
finger-ends, and rub it first along the closed seam of the eyelids, 
and when softened a little, press down the lower lid, and rub the 
saliva in the upper face of it, and then so with the upper; in this 
way the matter will he dissolved, and can be removed with the 
balls of the fingers; the saliva being one of the mildest, blandest, 
and most penetrating fluids in nature, it is admirably adapted to 
the uses just named ; but let it be repeated, any hard matter caked 
or matted at the edge of the eyelids or end of the eyelashes, should 
not be removed by the finger-nail. It is a common prejudice, that 
the finger-nails are poisonous in reference to their application to 
sores ; it is because of their irritating and inflaming effect, in drag¬ 
ging particles away that are attached instead of allowing them to 
remain until they drop off; the result of the latter course would 
always be, that the sores would get well sooner, and with less 
liability to leave a scar. 


SHOWER-BATHS 

should fall on the head covered with a stout cap, or folded towel 
placed on the top of the head. It is better that the water should 
come in double streams. If necessary to be poured from a pail* 
or the spout of a pitcher, it should not be over a foot or two above 
the head. These baths should be taken rapidly, the dry rubbing 
to follow without delay, then dress, and go to a warm apartment, 
or fake a brisk w T alk or other active muscularities, to rouse the 

circulation. 

WHEN TO Avon) BATHING. 

When followed invariably by headache, chilliness, or other dis¬ 
comfort. 

When a decided glow does not follow the operation, although 

there may be no actual chilliness. 

Avoid cold baths when the skin is moist, for the pores of the 
skin are open, and the sudden closing of them may cause chilli¬ 
ness or internal local congestions, more or less dangerous. 

G 


82 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


Not within an hour of eating a regular meal, or at least two 
hours after. 

Not when tired or debilitated, as, for example, after a long 
walk or ride, or at the close of an over-busy day. 

Not when very hungry. 

OUT-DOOR BATHING 

is only beneficial under the same laws as in-door bathing, that is, 
when there is no feeling of chilliness when the body emerges 
from the water; even if the feeling of coldness is merely suffi¬ 
cient to call the mind to the fact, with the least unpleasantness, 
such a bath is positively injurious. 

SEA-BATIIING 

is advantageous, or at least agreeable, to persons in health, but 
then they do not need it. 

In warm weather invalids may sometimes derive benefit from 
it when they can be taken into the water in a vehicle without 
fatigue, the air and water still and warm, remaining but a short 
time, the wiping dry, and the dressing and undressing, to be at¬ 
tended to by others. 

The sea-bathings at public watering-places for persons not in 
good health are attended with more harm than good. To begin 
with, lives are lost by drowning every year. Sometimes persons 
receive wrenches from the dashing of the waves unexpectedly, 
from which they do not recover for days and weeks, sometimes 
not for life. Every person, sick or well, must look upon the 
trouble of dressing and undressing for a bath at a public sea-slun*e 
resort with unmixed repugnance. The exposure to the direct 
rays of a hot summer sun is anything but agreeable, and is some¬ 
times positively dangerous; there may be a breeze, yet the hot 
sun’s rays beat directly on the head for all that; then wading 
out of the water into the deep, hot, dirty sand, getting it between 
your toes and leaving your feet dirtier than before, is wholly dis¬ 
agreeable ; if you wade out in your shoes, the inside of them is 
never clean, more or less sand will get in, and then the slushing 
and sloshing of the dirty water within the shoe is anything but 
agreeable. There is a gumminess about sea-water which has the 


BATHS AJW BATHING. 


S3 


effect to varnish over the skin, even though the sea-water is wiped 
off dry. There is no way to dress clean after a sea-bath unless the 
body is rinsed off in clean fresh water. Altogether, sea-bathing 
at public resorts is troublesome, dangerous, and an unmistakable 
indecency; and there are no facilities at any sea-side resort for 
sea-bathing to be.taken to advantage by invalids. 

It is not denied that persons are benefited at times by going to 
the. sea-shore ; but the fewest number of invalids are there, in ref¬ 
erence to whom it can be said with any certainty that any benefit 
derived was the result of sea-bathing; the simple change of air, 
of scene, of cookery, of associations and habits, having advantages 
which in many cases are wrongfully attributed to sea-bathing. 

TEMPERATURE OF BATHS. 

To remember easily, it is sufficient to say that— 

A cold bath is fifty degrees, or under. 

A tepid bath about seventy-five. 

A warm bath about a hundred. 

A hot bath about a hundred and ten. 

A vapor bath about a hundred and fifteen. 

A cold bath is tonic. 

A tepid bath is cleansing and calming. 

A hot bath relaxes the muscles and excites the circulation. 

NOTES FOR OUT-DOOR BATHERS. 

The best kind of bath in the world, and the healthiest, is a plunge- 
bath in the river or lake or ocean, before breakfast; such a bath is 
for vigorous persons who don’t need it. The young, the old, the 
invalid, the sedentary, should observe the following precautions: 

Bathe about midway between meals. 

The best time is in the forenoon. 

Wash the forehead plentifully in cold water, or the whole head 
and face, before bathing. 

Let the bathing be done rapidly, within ten minutes. 

If after a walk, and there is any perspiration whatever, undress 
leisurely, out of any draft of air, but get into the water before 
there is the very slightest indication of chilliness. 

If there is for an instant a feeling of chilliness, while in the 


84 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


water, or when you emerge from it, the weather is too cold for 
you, and you should leave for the house instead. 

Under all circumstances, as soon as you leave the water wipe 
dry, dress, and walk towards home without one moment’s unne¬ 
cessary delay.. 


.-CtfO- 

APOPLEXY 

Is a sudden prostration of sense, motion, and consciousness, in 

consequence of an excessive 
amount of blood being sent 
to the brain through the 
arteries, shown by flushed 
face and eves, violent beat- 
ing of the arteries, and swol¬ 
len veins at the sides of the 
neck. The pulse is full and 
slow, the face is turgid, or 
of a dusky hue, the breath¬ 
ing is measured, and often 
of a snoring character. There are two kinds of apoplexy: one 
called “ congesti ve,” where the blood-vessels are very full; the blood 
is, as it were, impeded in them, but still remains within them. 
In “hemorrhagic apoplexy” the blood is forced along the arte¬ 
ries to such an extent that in some weak spot the vessel gives wav 
and the blood presses out into the brain in a clot. Sometimes 
violent coughing or vomiting produces the same effect, the uni¬ 
form result being death, but not always or necessarily; for the 
clot is sometimes absorbed, and on the examination of the brain, 
years after, when the person has died of some totally different 
disease, the proof of a previous clot is obvious. 

Apoplexy seldom occurs in young persons; is much more rare 
in women than in men; there is an increasing liability to it with 
increasing years ; after thirty, more and more begin to die with it, 
until at fifty it becomes alarmingly frequent, in proportion as 
communities are more desperate in their effort for wealth and po¬ 
sition and distinction, as in large cities, especially in Xew York, 
























APOPLEXY. 


85 


where the struggle for money sweeps all other considerations 
aside, and everything is made to yield to its accumulation. A 
man’s thoughts are active and keen in proportion to the supply of 
good arterial blood to the brain, at the same time deep thought 
attracts blood there in .unusual quantities, and stimulants of all 
kinds increase the flow of the blood to the brain, hence they are 
said to “ excite ” us. Heavy feeding does the same thing by 
causing more blood to be made, hence the blood-vessels of the 
brain must convey more and require a greater force and capacity 
and strength to carry the increased quantity. Hence gluttonous 
persons and wine-bibbers, gourmands and liquor-drinkers are pe¬ 
culiarly liable to apoplexy; so are public speakers, because the 
brain is all alive to the subject, and this very activity invites the 
blood there in increasing quantities, and everything which does 
that invites apoplexy, such as a heavy strain—all see how the 
blood gathers in the face under such a strain—or in running or 
wrestling, or in any of the active games; violent bursts of anger 
do the same thing, or great emotions, of whatever sort. Hence 
the wisdom of all, especially after fifty, is in seeking repose, 
avoiding all strains and liftings and rapid motions, all laborious 
efforts, physical or mental; exercise of the body should be slow, 
continuous, and steady ; avoid all running up-stairs, all running- 
to catch a public vehicle; cultivate also a quiet mind, a calmness 
and sobriety of deportment; by so doing, and maintaining the 
u general health” (which see), persons liable to apoplexy, or of an 
apoplectic make and age, stoutness of build, shortness of neck, 
with large features, may indefinitely postpone an attack of apo¬ 
plexy, and finally die of some very different disease. Any man 
over fifty, whether he be short and thick, or tall and slim, is 
liable to an attack of apoplexy any day, if in his previous life 
he has studied hard and long, or* studied severely for a short 
period, or has been engaged in great enterprises, or in weighty 
and responsible avocations, bringing a strong, steady, and pro¬ 
tracted strain on the brain. 

As apoplexy is almost always fatal, it will save a great deal of 
unnecessary trouble and apprehension to be able to decide at 
once, when a person suddenly becomes unconscious, whether it is 

• apoplexy or not. 

First. If it be preceded by an altered condition of the kid¬ 
ney or bladder, whereby' the proper amount of urine has not 


86 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


• been passed from the system, and has been zeabsorbed to poison 
the blood and cause diseased conditions in various parts of the 
body, then the disease is not real apoplexy, but is uraemia, which 
means that the urine is mixed with the blood and caused the 
attack in question; if, under such circumstances, attention is paid 
to the urinary organs the patient may soon get well, and per- 
• manently so. 

Second. If the person is “ dead drunk ” the ailment is of 
alcoholic origin, known by the smell of the breath and other at¬ 
tendant circumstances, and hence is not really apopletic. 

Third. There may be this “ coma ” or insensibility from narco¬ 
tic poison, accidental or deliberate, which has been induced by 
taking laudanum, morphia, or kindred articles ; if that is the 
case the pupil of the eye is contracted ; if the attack has resulted 
from some other poisoning the pupils are on the contrary dilated; 
in such cases, by using “ antidotes ” (which see), the person may 
recover in a short time, and by next day be as well as ever. 

Fourth. Insensibility, coma, may result from a stroke on the 
head or a fall, which is to be determined by a history of the case 
or by appearances of things around the patient. 

Fifth. It may be a common fainting-fit; but in that case the 
lips are blue, the surface of the skin cold, there is no pulse, the 
breathing is interfered with, or there seems to be no breathing 
at all. 

Sixth. If it is a sunstroke the pulse is feeble, skin dry and hot. 

Seventh. If it is catalepsy the muscles are rigid, everything 
remains as at the instdnt of attack, the pulse is rapid, the attack 
soon passes off and returns again repeatedly, without any paralysis 
of any part. In short, apoplexy has a slow pulse, noisy breathing, 
and stupor. Epilepsy has a quick pulse and convulsive motion of 
the limbs. 

Fainting has no pulse, no perceptible breathing, and a pale face. 

TREATMENT. 

In an attack of real apoplexy there is not much to be done. 
The first thing is to send for a physician ; the next is to do what 
is possible to give temporary relief, but go about it with a certain 
degree of hopefulness and confidence, because if the person is 
thirty, or not much over, whatever may be the form of the apo¬ 
plexy, he may get well, especially if the constitution be not broken. 


APOPLEXY. 


87 


The first thing to he done is to have the patient sit up, so as to 
allow the blood to fall down from the head by its own gravity; in 
addition, use more active means to draw the blood from the 
head, by putting large mustard plasters to the legs and back 
and belly, one after another; use a speedy “ injection ” (which see) 
during the attack, so as to unload the bowels, and as soon as pos¬ 
sible afterwards give a dose of salts or castor-oil, so as to clear out 
the bowels. If there be much hair, cut or shave it off at once, and 
place a bag of pounded ice over the scalp, or keep cloths dipped in 
cold water, pressed out slightly so that the water shall not dribble 
on the clothing, applied to the scalp ; renew these cloths every five 
minutes until the head seems to be of the natural warmth. In all 
cases administer an active purgative, one tablespoon of castor-oil 
every hour, or a tablespoon of salts every hour, until the bowels 
act freely. 

But as apoplectic attacks are becoming so frequent, in comparison 
with past years, in- consequence of a generally prevalent straining, 
on the brain in conducting the affairs of life, every j^rofessional 
man after fifty, every man engaged in responsible employments, 
every student, every literary man, all sedentary persons, should 
consider themselves' liable to apoplexy, either by acquired or here- . 
ditary conditions, and use those preventive measures habitually, . 
systematically, and persistently which have been already stated, 
giving special prominence to— 

First.; Light and early suppers. 

Second. One free, full evacuation of the bowels every twenty- 
four hours. 

Third. Avoid the use of intoxicating drinks late at night. 

Fourth. Avoid all sudden and violent outbursts of passion. 

Fifth. Guard against hasty, violent, or long protracted exercise. 

-C<?3- 

. BBOKEhr BOAES, 

Or fractures, really Gome under the head of Accidents or Casual¬ 
ties. We are shocked at the idea of having a limb sawn off, but 
there is no more feeling in the bone itself than in a finger-nail 
while paring it; the actual pain is the mere feeling of a prick as 
the knife goes through the skin. F et when a bone is broken the 




ss 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


slightest motion of the broken ends gives great suffering, hence 
it is of the utmost importance in case any bone is broken to keep 
the person as perfectly quiet as possible. If the body, or any 
part of it, must be moved, it should ’ be done slowly, gently, and 
with the greatest care. 

But when the ends of the broken bone are united properly, and 
the body is healthy and strong enough to set up a healing process 
by sending out its own glue, as it were, called callus, to unite 
them again, then pain comes, steadily increasing; but if these 
ends are kept constantly in position, touching each other at the 
same spot, the process of reunion begins in a few hours. This is 
the reason why splints are used—long strips of wood on two sides 
of the limb—and strips of cloth wound around them and the limb. 
In this way everything is kept in place. The limbs of any of the 
domestic animals would reunite in a few days if it were possible 
to keep them still after the ends of the broken bones had been 
properly adjusted. Although the process of reunion commences 
rapidly it requires several weeks for completion, hence the greatest 
patience is required, the more trying because in all other respects 
the body is perfectly well. Even when there are indications that 
the bones have reunited, the greatest care should be taken in rising 
from the bed to favor the limb so as to force upon it the very 
slightest strain possible ; and in the use of it great care should be 
observed to employ it gently, and have but a few steps or motions 
at a time, and then give abundant rest before used again. In all 
fractures of bones, until a perfect cure is effected, the general 
health should be maintained by eating regularly, moderately, no- 
desserts, light suppers (which see, and also General Health), being 
careful to keep the bowels acting every day. A small amount of 
meat is allowable twice a day, eaten slowly and cut up fine. 
Oranges, lemons, apples, bananas, fruits, berries, tomatoes, with 
“ coarse breads,” should make a considerable part of breakfast and 
dinner, endeavoring all the time to bear with the pain, for it is 
the pain which causes an extra excitement, bringing an extra 
quantity of blood to the part, from which extra quantity the 
natural glue is made which is to bind the bones together quite as 
strong as they ever were before. If there were no pain or irrita¬ 
tion there would be no healing. If the ends of the bones pro¬ 
trude through the skin, or if crushed like an egg shell pressed in 
the hand, the aid of an experienced surgeon is imperatively re- 


BROKEN BONES. 


89 


quired ; but in simple fractures, a good way to tell whether a ' 
limb is broken or not, is to ask the sufferer to raise or bend it, 
and he will fail to do it. 

IN SIMPLE FRACTURES 

the things necessary to be done can be explained with sufficient 
clearness to enable a person of ordinary intelligence to u set a 
bone ” successfully. 

THE THIGH BONE 


is generally broken about the middle or lower part, either square 
across, called transversely, or obliquely; the patient can’t move the 
limb, the foot is turned outwards, the limb seems to be shorter and 
the lower end of the bone usually slides behind the upper end in 
oblique fractures ; those straight across show no displacement usu¬ 
ally, except to careful feeling. 

Get a board which will reach from two inches above the lower 
edge of the ribs to three or four inches beyond the sole of the foot, 
broader at the thighs, tapering towards the ankle to three inches 
broad, thick enough not to bend easily. There should be two 
notches at the lower end to tie the end of the bandage, and two 
holes in the upper end of this board; put the patient on a firm bed 
—a hair mattress is best; the limb is now to be bandaged from 
the toe upwards with a strip of cloth, some two inches wide, this 
is to keej) the limb from swelling; now let one person gently and 
steadily draw the foot downwards until it is as long as the other, 
feeling at the same time with the -finger at the broken part to 
ascertain if the ends of the bone exactly correspond with each 
other, that there is no ridge or offset or unevenness at the point of 
fracture. Then put pads or cushions on the board to protect the 
skin from injury, extend the limb on the board, take a “surgical 
roller” (which see), and beginning above the knee, wrap it around 
the limb and the splint down to the foot, and having turned round 
the ankle, pass it through the notches and thus bind it firmly to 
the splint. 

Next make steady the upper end of the splint by a broad band¬ 
age around the lower portion of the body, and going downwards, 
still including both the splint and the limb, until the other band¬ 
age is reached; next fasten a broad bandage around the waist, to 


90 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


bind the splint to the lower part of the waist; next pass a hand¬ 
kerchief over the groin and buttock, fastening its ends by means 
of the holes in the splint; by tightening this handkerchief the 
limb is extended, which should be done often to keep the limb 
straight. 

A cure under favorable circumstances is effected in about six 
weeks, during which time the bandages should be renewed three 
times; but since the bony reunion has not in this time acquired 
its full strength, the whole weight of the body should not be thrown 
on this limb under any circumstances for a single instant, but 
use a crutch all the time for three or four months, and if the j>a- 
tien't has a feeble constitution, the crutches should be used for a 
month or two longer, for if broken over again, the reunion is more 
slow, and attended with greater discomfort, and perfect convales¬ 
cence is protracted for a wearisome time ; be careful to protect the 
skin where the handkerchief passes under the groin, have it as 
smooth as possible, and let the ankles be carefully protected from 
chafing or abrasions, or painful pressure. 

LEG FRACTURE. 

The leg has two bones; the tibia, or shin-bone, and the fibula, 
which is behind it. 

If the shin-bone is broken and the knee is bent, this bone 
sticks out at the upper part; roll a bandage from the toes upward. 
Have a splint to reach from the middle of the thigh to near the 
heel. Have a pasteboard splint for both sides, but a wooden 
splint, hollowed out some, to fit the limb, on which extend it, and 
apply a roller to inclose both limb and splints; care should be 
taken that all the splints should be properly adjusted, and have the 
roller applied so as to have them in their proper place ; if.it is 
not well done, try it again. Pads must be placed under the heel 
to keep it raised. Bands of strong linen an inch wide should be 
used to tie the lower end of the splint and limb together, in such 
a way as to have the knots on the outside. 

The above are*the directions when the shin-bone is broken near 
the knee; if it is broken near the ankle, there is great pain on the 
slightest movement, and the leg is helpless. The exact seat of 
fracture is easily ascertained by moving the finger along the shim 
bone, as there is little but skin there, and a ridge is felt, or there 


BROKEN BONES. 


91 


is a grating noise if tlie ends of the bone are moved in opposite 
directions; have a pasteboard splint inside and outside from 
just below the knee to near the ankle, with cushions between the 
splints and the skin; then secure the whole by half a dozen broad 
tapes along the line of the splints, making them more or less 
tight, according to the needs of the case. 

BOTH LEG BONES 

are sometimes broken; they break not always in a line, but an 
inch or more apart, turning the foot out, bending and deforming 
the leg, until rectified. The favorite bandage for such a frac¬ 
ture is the 

EIGHTEEN-TAILED BANDAGE, 

made thus: take a piece of linen, three or four inches broad, and 
as long as the leg; take eighteen strips of the same width, and 
stitch them across the other at equal intervals; they should be 
long enough to go one and a half times around the limb; they 
should be stitched so as to cover each other about a third of their 
breadth. 

Then set the bone by bending the knee a little and extending 
the limb, or draw it down until the ends of the bones come in 
contact, which may be known by the grating sound, if rubbed to¬ 
gether, and having a padded splint ready, extending from above 
the knee a little beyond the ankle, let the bandage be placed under 
this splint, being very careful in transferring the limb from the 
pad to the splint that the ends of the bones shall be precisely in 
their places ; now take the lowest tail and pass it obliquely across 
the leg to the opposite side, the other end of the same tail must 
then be similarly brought on the other side, so as to intersect the 
first; apply the other tails in the same way until the upper one is 
reached, carry them always under the limb ; next place a soft pad 
on the upper part of the limb and on that a splint, then take half 
a dozen strips of linen or broad tape and tie around the whole, 
next make a frame for the limb by nailing boards together, inclin¬ 
ing both ways down to the foot, in a pyramid form, with a board 
for the foot. The splints should be removed in six weeks, if 
things go on favorably; but the limb should be used lightly and 


92 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


with great care for several weeks longer, for, although the bones 
are knitted at the end of six weeks, additional time is required for 
them to have the firmness and solidity of texture requisite for free 
use. 


FRACTURE OF COLLAR BONE. 

This usually takes place about the centre; the exact spot can 
be ascertained by running the finger along the bone; the outward 
or shoulder end falls down; place the ends in contact by stretch¬ 
ing the shoulders as far back as possible ; then adjust the ends 
of the bone, keep them so by a suitable bandage, place the arm 
across the chest, fingers pointed towards the top of the other 
shoulder, fasten all in that position by a broad band around the 
chest; it is an addition to put a pad under the armpit in such a 
way as to assist in keeping the ends of the broken bones in more 
exact positions. 

* BROKEN RIBS. 

This is a frequent accident. The remedy is to bind a broad 
bandage around the chest, the tighter the better, so that the ribs 
should move as little as possible in breathing; the patient should 
cultivate the habit of breathing with the muscles of the belly or 
abdomen as much as possible; this will be a great aid to a speedy 
restoration; if there is great pain, or restlessness, or anxiety, the 
patient may be bled to fainting; for several days the diet should 
be mainly of coarse breads, berries and fruits, and by all means 
keep the bowels free ; the broad tight bandage about the chest 
may be best kept in its place by shoulder-straps made of strips of 
cloth. 


BROKEN ARM 

is known by its lying down helpless by the side of the patient; 
lie has no control over it, and it is somewhat shorter than natural. 
Grasp the elbow with one hand, stretch the other end of the limb 
with the other hand until the ends of the bone are exactly oppo¬ 
site each othei, and no lidge is felt where they adjoin ; apply a 
strong pasteboard splint from the armpit to the elbow, and another 
on the opposite side, from the top of the shoulder beyond the 


BROKEN BONES. 


93 


elbow, first steeping them in hot water and softly padding the 
arm ; if the splints are broad enough to almost envelop the arm 
it is better, so that on the subsidence of the swelling they should 
not overlap or even meet, for then they loosen ; then apply a 
bandage that shall reach from the ends of the fingers, rolling it 
upwards until it reaches the elbow; it should be applied moder¬ 
ately tight, but not to interfere with the circulation. Apply a 
•wooden splint on the outside of all this, but only until the paste¬ 
board gets dry and forms a kind of case around the arm ; the elbow 
should be carried at a right angle and the arm be well supported in 
a sling, adjusted in such a way as to aid in holding the ends of the 
fractured bone together. In about a week the swelling subsides. 
Look in under the edge of the pasteboard and see if the ends are still 
adjusted right; the bone usually begins to unite in seven days, tp 
be completed in a month; but for a month after the arm should 
be carefully used, no straining, no lifting of weights or pulling. 

FOREARM FRACTURES. 

The forearm, like the leg, has two bones, the ulna and radius / 
the latter is oftenest broken, the nearer the wrist the greater is 
the distortion. The point of fracture can be ascertained by 
running the finger along the arm ; it causes pain to turn around, 
and a grating noise will be heard if the ends of the bone are 
moved in oj^posite directions. When the radius or outer bone is 
fractured, the ulna or inner one keeps it in place. Have soft 
pads ready, then dip pasteboard splints in hot water, and have a 
roller to go round the whole ; one splint should reach on the out¬ 
side from above the elbow to the tips of the fingers, and another 
from the bend of the arm to the end of the palm of the hand. 
Place the arm in a sling, the palm of the hand lying flat on the 
breast, never moving the palm in any direction, because the 
slightest turn in it moves the bone at the point of union, and 
every such motion arrests healing. 

If the ulna is "broken, treat it as the other. 

If both bones are broken, all use is lost of the hand, the arm 
swells, and it is considerably shortened. Extend the arm until the 
ends of the bone meet. Apply splints of pasteboard dipped in 
hot water, as before, using one wooden splint on the outside until 
the pasteboard is dry. If there is not much flesh on the arm a 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


94 


soft compress of lint should be placed between the bones of the 
arm first, serving to aid in keeping them apart, thus holding the 
broken ends in their exact position. 

BROKEN FINGER. 

Put a wooden splint along the back of the fingers, with a soft 
pad between, and bandage on to keep it in place. 

.TAW FRACTURE. 

At whatever point broken, arrange so that all the teeth shall be 
in their natural positions, touching, with respect to one another; 
then secure the jaw, shutting the mouth by strips of adhesive-plaster 
of fine leather at least two inches wide, extending from the chin 
to the ear. Then make a bandage two yards long, two and a half 
inches wide; split this from each end to within six inches of the 
centre; make a hole in the centre for the chin, bring the two 
lower ends upwards over the head, and carry the two upper 
ends along over the jaw to the back of the neck, thence several 
turns over the head, fastening at the ends and crossings, to keep 
in position. 

KNEE-PAN FRACTURE. 

The upper part is drawn up, the patient cannot straighten the 
limb, and the fissure can be felt and seen. Have a stiff splint 
from the middle of the thigh to the lower end of the calf, binding 
it with a roller; if the breaking is across the knee-pan buckle 
above and below the fracture, around the limb, then, by other 
straps attached to them, draw on the buckles until the sides of the 
fracture are brought exactly together, for if this is not done, there 
will be no union by one bone growing to another, but only by 
ligaments. 

If the fracture is up and down, a bandage around will bring 
the parts together, using compresses to keep the parts*cool, and a 
splint to keep the leg extended and still. 

DISLOCATION 

is when a bone is removed from its place, or out of its socket, 
easily known by the protuberance on one side, and a hollow on 
the other, with more or less swelling, pain, heat, inflammation ; if 


BROKEN BONES. 


05 


it lias just occurred, it may be readily put in its place by gradu¬ 
ally and steadily and gently drawing on the limb, until the 
patient has lost all power of resistance; as soon as the bulb of 
the bone comes to the edge of the cup or depression from which 
it has been carried, it pops in with a snap. If a week or two, or 
more, passes without replacement it will be a life-long disable¬ 
ment, for new attachments are made. If it was not possible to 
do anything for some hours or a day or two, and there is pain, 
inflammation, and swelling, dip -several folds of flannel in hot 
water, and lay them on the spot, renewing every five minutes, or 
even less, if pain is great; after considerable relief, apply a 
warm poultice of milk and wheat bread, or of coarse meal of oats 
or corn, mixed with oil and vinegar half and half ; when the pain 
and inflammation have subsided, set the bone as directed above ; 
it may be necessary to bleed first. 

After a dislocation has been remedied, and there is any pain 
or heat, or swelling, dip several folds of linen into spirits of 
camphor or vinegar, and lay on over the spot, renewing frequently, 
until the parts feel and seem comfortable. Use a sling, if the 
dislocation is in any part of the arm; if it is in the leg, it should 

be kept on a chair, extended on a level with the seat of the 

♦ 

person. 

If a limb is dislocated and broken at the same time, it may be 
best to heal the fracture first, if the dislocation cannot be rem¬ 
edied at too great a cost of suffering. 

SHOULDER DISLOCATION 

is generally downwards, and the head is in the arm-pit; the arm 
cannot be moved without great pain, and the arm is much short¬ 
ened. Place the patient on a low seat; one person must hold the 
patient firmly, while the operator takes hold of the arm above the 
elbow, and gradually and steadily extends it; put a towel under 
the arm, and tie it around the operator’s neck, and when the arm 
is pulled out far enough the operator must gently raise himself 
up, pulling the patient’s arm upward with his neck, his assistants 
pulling on the patient’s leg, while with his own hands he takes 
hold of the end of the bone and directs it to its place, into which 
it jerks with a snap; then use hot fomentations and camphorated 
cloths, until the heat and inflammation have subsided. 


96 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


If there is swelling, pain, or inflammation, nse leeches, fomen¬ 
tations, loosening medicines, and a cooling diet, until relief is 
afforded; castor oil (which see), may be used to keep the bowels 
free, and live on coarse bread, and fruits and vegetables. 


DISLOCATED ELBOW. 

One should hold the arm above and an other below the elbow, 
each pulling gently and steadily in opposite directions until the 
operator can, with his fingers, put the parts in their proper posi¬ 
tions ; keep the arm bent and cary it in a sling for some days, 
until there is a feeling of strength in the parts, keeping down 
heat and fever by poultices, compresses, or simply pouring water 
on the parts, or keeping them wound round with wet rags. Pretty 
much all dislocations are remedied in a similar manner, always 
taking care to keep the bowels regular and feeding lightly, as 
just named. 


IIIP-JOINT DISLOCATION. 

Very many old persons have their hips dislocated by jostles 
and falls, and are made invalids or cripples m all after-life, but 
often it is a result of want of prompt treatment. If the dislo¬ 
cation is downwards, then one leg is longer than the other; if 
upwards, shorter; if downwards, the foot and knee are turned 
outwards ; otherwise, inwards. If downwards, lay the patient on 
the back, to be held or strapped fast. Tie a cloth around above 
the knee, in such a way that a person can drag the limb down¬ 
wards with this cloth until it is near its proper place, and then 
the operator can guide it with his fingers. 

If an outward dislocation, lay the patient on the face, and 
while one person is drawing upon the limb, the operator must 
guide the head of the bone inwards until it gets to its proper 
place; then raise it upward, so as to help it into the socket. 

As there must be more or less drawing in all dislocations, it 
must be remembered that the patient instinctively resists that 
drawing for fear of being hurt; but if this drawing is steadily 
persisted in, he presently loses all power of resistance, is perfectly 
helpless, and the limb.is then comparatively easily adjusted. 


TYPHOID FEVER. 


97 


JAW DISLOCATION 

sometimes takes place from gaping immoderately, as well as by 
violent laughter or other means. Place .the patient on a low 
stool; let one person hold his head firmly, while the operator 
gets behind, puts each thumb, covered with linen, to be protected 
from slipping or being bitten, into the mouth as far as he can, 
while the lingers are to be applied to the jaw outside; press the 
jaw steadily and strongly downwards and backwards, until it 
comes to its proper place with a snap. Then rest the jaw; avoid 
much talking, or gaping, or chewing anything hard, until it re¬ 
covers its natural healthful tone. 

DISLOCATED NECK 

must be promptly relieved, or death will soon take place ; but it 
can be remedied thus: If partially dislocated, the chin falls on 
the breast, preventing speech, swallowing, or motion; face is 
turned aside, countenance bloated, neck swollen, and there is no 
sensibility. Place the patient on his back, for there is not a 
moment to lose, the operator behind, so as to hold the head with 
both hands firmly; fixing his knees against the shoulders of the 
patient, pull the head with gradually increasing force, moving it 
from side to side until the bones of the neck drop into their place, 
known by the noise of a snap and returning breathing; then 
secure the head in its place by proper bandages ; bathe the parts 
• with cloths dipped in vinegar or spirits of camphor, put to bed, 
keep the bowels very free with cooling diet (which see). If the 
neck is completely dislocated, death ensues. 


<xn- 


TYPHOID FEYEP. 

Typhus is a Greek word, meaning stupor, depression, a lack of 
sprightliness. Typhoid means similar to Typhus. It is better for 
all practical purposes to consider them as of the same nature, 
Typhoid being an aggravation, a worse form of Typhus. 




98 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


CAUSE OF TYPHOID FEVER. 

It arises from breathing the exhalations from tvhat was once a 
part of animal bodies, especially of human bodies. If a great many 
persons are confined in a ship or room or prison, especially in 
warm weather, they will soon begin to have typhoid fevei , if on 
shipboard, it is called the 

SHIP FEVER. 

If, on the other hand, it breaks out among prisoners, confined 
in narrow quarters, it is the 

JAIL FEVER, 

of which so much was written many years ago. It is emphatical¬ 
ly a a catching ” disease, as the common people express it. Medi¬ 
cal men call it contagious, that is, easily taken by persons who 
come in contact or close association with the patients, it is not 
necessary to come into actual contact with them, to sleep in the 
same bed with them, nor to be in the same room with them, in 
order to take the disease. Striking examples of this are given in 
the author’s book on Sleep, or Hygiene of the Night. A case is 
given where one of the cells in an English prison, a hundred 
years ago, was much crowded ; the jailer and jailer’s wife, whose 
business it was to furnish food, introduced it from a room above the 
cell, through a very small opening; they were soon taken sick. 
They represented that the stench which came up in their faces 
through the little trap-door w r as loathsome beyond degree; it was 
Intolerable. They both died before any of the prisoners were se¬ 
riously ill, because the most poisonous air in a warm crowded 
room ascends to the ceiling, hence the jailers breathed it in a 
more concentrated form than the prisoners themselves. 

If a person having had typhoid fever goes with the same cloth¬ 
ing, especially if woollen, into a room where there are others, the 
more delicate of them will be apt to take the fever. If the bed¬ 
ding or the clothing worn in sickness by a typhoid patient is 
packed in a trunk, and the trunk is closed for months, and is 
finally placed in a room and opened, the person sleeping a single 
night in the room is very liable to an attack. 

It is not only the perspiration and fumes and odor coming from 


TYPHOID FEVER. 


99 


the bodies of living human beings crowded in a small, warm room 
which are capable of causing typhoid fever, the emanations of hu¬ 
man and animal offal generate the disease with great rapidity, 
especially in persons of frail constitutions, or of sedentary or de¬ 
praved habits of eating, drinking, carousing, and debauchery. A 
person with a debilitated constitution may have typhoid fever 
from a few times passing a place where animal offal is in a state 
of decay ; but robust constitutions may resist the daily breathing 
of it for some time, but must eventually yield to its deadly power. 
Hence all classes are liable to typhoid fever, the poor from crowd¬ 
ing and filth, the rich and cultivated from having to pass filthy 
localities. 

Whether the matter which causes typhoid fever is breathed into 
the lungs or is taken into the stomach through the water which is 
drunk, the effects are the same—to corrupt and poison the blood in 
a most malignant manner. Hence if families drink water from 
a well or spring which is near a privy or sink, or household drain, 
and these make their way into the., fountain, especially in the sum¬ 
mer-time, typhoid disease will soon appear. 

A CASE. 

A family of ten persons lived in a remarkably healthful local¬ 
ity ; they occupied a large house, built on an elevation ; for many 
years there had not occurred a single case of sickness in the 
house; but all at once, one, then another, and another of the 
family were attacked with typhoid fever, to the wonderment of 
that whole section of country; more than half the family died, 
all were sick. On a thorough investigation suggested by the 
doctor, it was found that about a month before the fever appeared 
the pump was broken, and as water was almost as handy from a 
a stream near by, the family derived their supplies from it; this 
stream flowed near several barn-yards and family out-liouses, and 
not only received the washings of the same into them, but the 
soakings .of all these places made their way also into the stream, 
and by the time the water reached the premises of the doomed 
family it was thoroughly impregnated with the poisonous mate¬ 
rial coming from human and animal offal; it indeed seemed 
sparkling and clear, but a proper examination showed that there 
was a visible sediment of human excrement. Three membeis of 

> 

> i 

• > * 


100 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


this family were not sick at all, apparently from the peculiarity 
of their circumstances, they did not in all that time use any of 
the water from the brook. 

In a small village near Hew York City, during 1871, typhoid 
fever attacked a whole family with marked violence. On 
examination it was found that an old forgotten house-drain 
crossed the pipe which supplied the family hydrant with water, 
and that at that crossing there was a leak in the old sewer, and 
the matter of it made its way into the water-pipe at its imperfect 
joinings; this state of things v T as remedied, and the sickness at 
once abated and soon disappeared. 

Some time ago in a part of Philadelphia where a large number 
of the poorer classes lived, supplied with drinking and cook¬ 
ing water from a spring which w r as at the Iow T est part of the 
settlement, as summer came on a variety of bowel disorders made 
their appearance, and various grades of typhoid fever. On its 
being pointed out that the spring was in a bottom, and that the 
drainings of all the outhouses would naturally make their way 
into it, although it was sparklingly clear, the use of* the water 
was abandoned entirely, and the sickness at once disappeared and 
has not since returned. 

It is well known that Prince Albert of England died of typhoid 
fever. lie was a man who would have been thought to be the 
very last person to have a disease of that kind, because possessing 
a fine constitution, temperate in all his habits of life, systematic 
in exercise, regular in eating and free from every vice, all these con¬ 
siderations should have tended to length of days; but no constitu¬ 
tion can survive the steady breathing day after day of a pernici¬ 
ous atmosphere. The London Lancet , the highest medical au¬ 
thority, states, that knowing there must be some specific cause 
somewhere, careful inquiry and investigation elicited the fact that 
an old drain from a village had been carried across the castle 
grounds before the buildings were erected, and that there was a 
break in this sewer, just under the library of the Prince, and as 
he spent a large portion of his time in that apartment, he 
necessarily breathed a great deal of the foul atmosphere which 
was there generated, and breathing it, died. 

Yery recently two British noblemen had to pass some yards for 
the preparation of manure; one of them having gone near twice 
was taken seriously ill next day; the other, with his servant, 


TYPHOID FEVER. 


101 


passed repeatedly in the course of a few weeks, and died after a 
few days’ illness; the servant lingered longer, but followed his 
master, both, the victims of typhoid fever from breathing the 
odors from decayed human excrement in course of preparation 
for the fields. Let it then be distinctly understood that where 
typhoid fever attacks a family, close examination will generally 
elicit facts to show that the cause is found in human excretions 
being taken into the body through the lungs or through the 
stomach; in the latter case by the water used, in the former by 
breathing air saturated with human effluvia. 

Recently there was a flood in the river Ribble, which receives 
the sewage drains of the Swill Brook Mill at Preston, England. 
The contents of the sewers were thus dammed up, driving the 
odors into a room where eleven persons were at work, every one 
of whom became ill, and in a few days four died of marked 
typhoid fever; hence all offensive odors should be excluded from 
every human habitation. The worst forms of typhus fever are in¬ 
duced by breathing the odors of kitchen sinks, drains in the back-yard, 
open privy seats or doors, and of decaying rats behind base boards, 
ceilings, and other places. A barn-yard may be a mile distant on a 
higher piece of ground, and yet its drainage will make its way to 
some neighbor’s spring lower down, to be taken into the stomach 
in the drinking-water aiid from the tea-kettle. 

Two cases of diphtheria occurred in one family. On examina¬ 
tion it was found that the lead pipe connected with the water- 
closet in the house w T as joined to the iron drain, but at the junction 
the iron had rusted and thus allowed the fumes of the drain to 
come into the house ; and it may be safely said that where diphthe¬ 
ria, typhoid fever, and allied diseases appear in a family, the 
cause may be found in some deficiency connected with the chan¬ 
nels which carry away the various offals of the house, although 
the disease has various other causes. 


TREATMENT. 

The diet should be milk, if it is palatable, two or three pints in 

twenty-four hours, beef soups and gruels. 

If there is not one action of the bowels in twenty-four hours, use 

an injection or mild laxatives. 


102 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. - 


If there is much sickness at stomach an ipecac, emetic is belief! 
cial, relieving the nausea at once. 

If there is a fast, strong pulse, it is calmed by taking, two or 
three times a day, small doses of tincture of aconite leaves, from 
fifteen to twenty-five drops, or about five drops of the root tincture. 

In typhoid fever, the fever is continuous ; it seems to last all the 
time, and must increase that debility which is an invariable at¬ 
tendant of that disease, hence it is of considerable importance to 
abate it. This is often well done by giving about thirty drops of 
diluted hydrochloric acid every three hours in half a glass of 
sweetened water, to be continued day and night until the fever sub¬ 
sides. 

If the bowels act more than once in twenty-four hours, or there 
is sleeplessness or disposition to delirium, all these are remedied by 
a dose of Dover’s Powders, five to fifteen grains in water or syrup ; 
ten grains of this contain one grain of opium. Hence its tendency 
to give sleep and to calm the action of the bowels. 

If the patient seems to be prostrated, about two grains of quinine 
in a table-spoonful of brandy every three or four hours gives 
strength and animation. 

The things which distinguish typhoid from other fevers are 
mainly: 

1. It comes on very gradually. 

2. The fever seems never to leave the patient for a moment, 
although it is not a very high one. 

3. Bleeding of the nose. 

4. The bowels discharge a dirty yellow substance. 

5. Abdominal symptoms; the belly is drum-like, swollen and 
tight from gas in the bowels, causing tenderness on pressure and 
a kind of gurgling noise ; in most cases there is a weakening 
looseness of the bowels, which, if not controlled, begin to ulcer¬ 
ate, bleed, eat through, and death is inevitable. 

6. Above all, there is a peculiar eruption of the skin in Typhoid 
I ever; little spots appear separately over the belly, of a rose or pink 
color, so little elevated as to be noted only by the finger, not the 
eye ; of an oval form, and one or two lines broad. The redness of 
these patches disappears for a moment if pressed with the finger; 
generally not more than eighteen or twenty of these rose-colored 
small spots can be seen on the whole surface of the belly, and some¬ 
times not more than four or five. How and then there may be a 


TYPHOID FEVER. 


103 


great many spots, which may extend to the extremities; occasion¬ 
ally these spots are only to be found in the back ; these spots die 
away and others come ; after death they are not seen. They 
begin to appear usually during the third week of the disease. 
This eruption is not always present, especially in children ; its 
presence or absence, its copiousness or scantiness does not meas¬ 
ure the severity of the disease. 

In this disease, as above stated, the pulse is always too frequent, 
and the more frequent it is the more likely the person is to die, 
because a quick pulse always wastes the strength, and want of 
strength is particularly present in typhoid fever. If' the pulse 
on an average is under a hundred the chances are greatly in favor 
of recovery ; if it beats a hundred and ten times in a minute or 
over, a fatal issue may be pretty certainly looked for. 

If the pulse suddenly rises and continues ten, fifteen, or twenty 
beats faster, a very unfavorable change has taken place, and there 
is most likely inflammation of the lungs or bowels, this latter in¬ 
dicating approaching ulceration, perforation,, and death. 

As nations grow older with increasing civilization so-called, 
the tendency to typhoid diseases increases, in consequence, in part, 
of increased debility of constitution, induced by luxurious living 
and idleness and sedentary employments, and in other part by 
new habits of life, induced by wealth. For example, in cities es¬ 
pecially, water-closets are found in almost every house, are liable 
to get out of order all the time; the pipes and drains connected 
with them are studiously kept out of sight, are covered up in the 
ground or are concealed in the plastering, so that they may get 
out of order in their joints and remain so for months and years 
with little probability of discovery, and all this time one by one 
of the household may be dying off as a direct effect of a defective 
house-pipe. Of late years in England typhoid diseases and spot¬ 
ted fevers, and diphtheria, have very largely increased in number, 
and so in the United States; hence too much pains will scarcely 
be taken by housekeepers to cultivate cleanliness, not only of 
clothing and person and chambers, but purity of air especially as 
impaired by defective pipes and drains. . 

Another cause of the increased frequency of typhoid fever is 
the vast increase of population, and this tends to the cities; this 
great increase involves greater crowding and a greater concentra¬ 
tion of offals and human dejections in much more limited spaces. 


104 


BALLS FAMILY DOCTOR 


Unless an increasing civilization and popnlonsness of any local¬ 
ity or city or country is accompanied by increased cleanliness 
of habits and practices and homes, diseases of. all kinds will 
become more frequent and more fatal. 

BODILY HEAT. 

If a thermometer is placed in the arm-pit of a man in health it 
raises the mercury to ninety-eight degrees. This is called blood- 
heat. In typhoid fever this rises in the first three davs to one 
hundred and three; and if a greater increase is observed the 
symptom is proportionally unfavorable; for if it reaches one hun¬ 
dred and seven or eight in the morning, it means death. During 
the progress of the disease there is a variation of the heat, be¬ 
tween morning and evening, of two or three degrees; but as a 
person is getting well this difference amounts to eight or ten 
degrees. 

While a sudden and great rise of the pulse indicates a danger¬ 
ous complication in the lungs or bowels, a sudden and great fall 
usually precedes bleeding from the bowels, which is also an un¬ 
favorable indication. 

% 

SYMPTOMS OF TYPnOID FEVER. 

The patient begins to be dull, drooping, and drowsy in mind 
and body. This goes on increasing until it becomes a stupor; 
then a wandering condition of the mind; next a low muttering 
delirium, excessive bodily exhaustion. The body slides down to 
the foot of the bed; reddish spots appear on the skin; there is 
twitching of the muscles; blood comes from the bowels, or they 
are the seat of ulceration which eats through them, when death 
speedily follows, the disease running its course in about three 
weeks. If, however, in the course of the disease, the countenance 
brightens, the pulse grows stronger, the tongue cleans, and the 
appetite improves, restoration to usual health may be looked for, 
if there is no relapse, no u back set;” but the disease oftenest 
returns, and a relapse is death, 

. INJEDICIOESNESS IN EATING. 

The body has been greatly debilitated, and its cravings for 
food are sometimes almost irresistible. The appeals, for this 
that, and the other longed-for article are so pitiful that affection 


TYPHOID FEVER 


105 


can scarcely resist them; the rule should he a little at a time, at 
three hours’ interval; nothing between, because the stomach must 
have rest, must have time to prepare itself for the work of digest¬ 
ing another portion. The food should be light, easily digested, 
and such as the patient was accustomed to eat in health; it should 
be well cooked, cut up as tine as a pea, and chewed deliberately 
and well. A lady was recovering from a long and tedious at¬ 
tack which brought her to the very verge of the grave. She 
fairly yearned for a sweet-potato. She ate but a small part of 
one; it laid like a load in her stomach. Sh,e had a relapse, and 
died. The sweet-potato is a very compact food, as little fitted for 
absorbing the digestive fluids of the stomach as wax. Had she 
eaten. toasted bread in its dry state the juices of the stomach 
w r ould have been taken up into it as a sponge takes up water, and 
would have dissolved it at once. Ilot loaf-bread and hot biscuit 
would have been as bad as the sweet-potato, for they are not 
much better than dough. Take a piece of hot bread or dough, 
make a little cake of it, and place it in a saucer of water, it will 
remain there for hours without taking up any of the water. Take 
a piece of stale bread and place it in a cup of water, and if w T ell 
baked it will all fall apart in a few minutes. This is what is 
meant by light food; well-cooked meat which is tender, if chewed 
well, is also light food, and is very nutritious. In the absence of 
teeth to masticate it well, it may be beaten almost to a paste, and 
if thus eaten with its juice, a tablespoonful at a time, it is a 
“light” food. The patient should also be very careful not to 
expend his strength either of mind or body, unnecessarily; all 
study and worry and excitement should be carefully avoided ; all 
bodily exercise should be gentle, deliberate, a little at a time; no 
hurry, no bustle, nothing that strains or is protracted. More can 
be done by judicious nursing than with medicine, although the 
aid of the latter can be called in with immense advantage at 
times. The great feature in typhoid fever is debility, prostra¬ 
tion; hence to husband the strength and to increase it are the 
two main features of treatment. As to the former, the previous 
page makes general suggestions. 

To give strength, the first step is to give good air to breathe, as 
it was breathing bad air which caused the sickness, bee article, 
“ Ventilating Sick-Rooms.” The room should contain a fire-place 
even in summer, and that should be kept open day and night, and 


106 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


if day and night, incessantly a lamp or candle were kept burning 
on the hearth near the back, in summer, and a light fire in cool 
weather, a permanent draught would be set up thereby, and 
to the fire-place all the out-door air would tend which comes 
in under the doors and at the window crevices, thus driving before 
it into the fire-place and up the chimney all the heaviest and 
worst gases and human exhalations; to promote this, an inner 
door, which is safer, or a window should allow some air to come 
in, but in such a way that the draught should not be upon the pa¬ 
tient. Next keep the skin clean by the use of sponges dipped in 
water of such a temperature as is most soothing and cooling to 
the patient; sometimes cold water is most refreshing, at others 
tepid or warm. 

The condition of the bowels should be carefully watched, loose¬ 
ness is more to be guarded against than costiveness ; for looseness 
weakens. Aim to have one action every twenty-four hours. If 
costive administer “injections 15 (which see), or use the mildest 
“ Aperients ” • 

If there is a tendency to looseness, to thin passages, use “ rice ” 
boiled (which see), or from five' to twenty grains of 

NITRATE OF BISMUTH 

(which see); this may be taken three or four times a day. Great 
attention must be paid to the condition of the bowels, for that 
is the characteristic feature of typhoid fever, so much so, that 
eminent German writers have called it “ abdominal typhus,” 
our “ belly ” typhus; some of our own physicians term it “ en¬ 
teric fever,” that is, fever of the bowels; these statements are 
made to impress upon the reader’s mind that, as it is a disease of 
the bowels, so the greatest care should be taken to keep them in 
proper condition, and to avoid taking either food or medicine 
which would be calculated to irritate them, to aggravate any in¬ 
flamed or ulcerous condition which may be present. 

In the early stage of Typhus fever the belly is flat, with no ten¬ 
dency to loose bowels for two or three weeks; but as it runs into 
typhoid the belly swells in consequence of some of the “ glands ” 
of the small intestine becoming inflamed by the continuance of 
the disease, then ulcerated, swelling, and so distending the skin 
of the belly that there is a drum-like sound if stricken lightly 
with the finger. This 


TYPHOID FEVER 


107 


SWELLING. OF THE BOWELS 

in typhoid fever, occasioned mainly by large quantities of 
wind, may be relieved more or less by “kneading the liver” 
(which see), or a long gntta-perclia tube may be carefully intro¬ 
duced, .by the “rectum” (which see) or lower bowels. At other 
times 

“ FOMENTATIONS ” 

(which see), if hot, do a great deal of good. 

The patient sometimes suffers greatly from burning hands or 
feet, or other local fevers; these may be relieved by inducing 
perspiration, in a gentle way, by wrapping up in bed and drink¬ 
ing largely of hot teas, or even hot water, which, however, is the 
safest, because it does not irritate nor excite either the stomach or 
the intestines. 

During the first week the skin gets hotter, the pulse goes up to 
a hundred or more (see “ Pulse ”), with coated tongue; the sleep is 
short and less refreshing, great restlessness, pain in the small of 
the back and in the head; if the disease is progressing. The 
second week is marked by a tendency to diarrhoea, the belly swells ; 
on the surface of it little rose-colored spots are seen, while on the 
chest and neck little pimples aj}pear in drops almost as clear as 
if they were drops of sweat. 

In any stage of the disease the fever may be abated by taking 
every hour, in a little sweetened water, from two to ten or fifteen 
drops of “ veratrum viride ” (which see); if the fever is kept 
down there is less of delirium, which rarely comes on in the first 
week; oftener in the second, but in the third week this symptom 
is decidedly manifest in three cases out of four. This delirium 
arises from weakness of mind, is most manifest in the night, and, 
if not watched, the patient gets up and dresses, or winders about 
and out of the house, to the great waste of strength, hence the 
•necessity of good, conscientious nurses; other things require 
watchfulness; in three cases out of four diarrhoea takes 
place ; in many cases the patient, from indifference or inability to 
restrain, befouls the bed; and cleanliness is essential in the 
whole progress of the disease; if the discharges are involuntary 
or bloody, the danger is very great, and there is but little hope 
of recovery. 


103 


T IALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


But it happens in typhoid fever, as in other ailments, that at 
the very point when all hope of recovery is abandoned, and skill 
and science stand helpless by the bedside, not even attempting to 
do anything but to alleviate, the symptoms change for the bet¬ 
ter ; every few hours a further advance is made towards health, 
giving all new hope and heart, because, in some part of the body 
distant from the seat of life some swelling appears, increasing in 
size as the patient improves, to result in a few days in an ulcera¬ 
tion or running sore, which, if allowed to remain, gradually runs 
itself dry, and the man is well; if this ulcer is tampered with and 
attempts are made to “ heal it up,” there will be a relapse which 
will end fatally. The course which typhoid fever ran in the case of 
the Prince of Wales in 1871, strikingly confirms the views and state¬ 
ments made above. From the verge of the grave, and when his 
attending physicians had abandoned all hope of his recovery, the 
civilized world heard with gladness that there was a pause in his 
disease. “ He was no worse; ” a few hours later the telegraph 
announced that he was “better,” and the almost simultaneous 
“ swelling ” in the neighborhood of the left hip told the story that 
at a most critical juncture a swelling began to show itself in a 
spot which was in a sense far from the vitaj parts of the system, 
which drew away the disease from portions of the system which 
could bear no more, thus giving them relief and rest, and final 
life. It is useful to remark here, that life is often saved by this 
very process of nature in all forms of disease. Ulceration or 
abscess, internal or external, or even an ordinary boil, serves as a 
centre of attraction for all the diseased particles to run; or, in 
other terms, a drain is set up through which diseased, decaying, 
poisonous, and dead matters are carried out of the system. 

A lady over sixty had a troublesome cough of some months’ 
continuance ; she and her friends apprehended consumptive dis¬ 
ease, as, besides the cough, other symptoms were present: debility, 
feverishness, quick pulse, and night sweats ; her alarm increased 
on the appearance of a sore at the edge of the nail of the big toe ; 
yellow matter began to ooze out, and forebodings of an eating 
and fatal cancer were indulged. Her physician saw in this an 
effort of nature to cure herself. It was advised to promote the 
running by keeping the parts clean, and the application of soft 
poultices of milk and bread, to be renewed thrice a day, to keep 
down the inflammation; the bowels were made to act every day; 


FEVER AND AGUE. 


109 


nourishing and plain food was eaten thrice a day without any¬ 
thing between; colds were avoided, and the sleeping apartments 
well ventilated; the result was that in a few weeks the cough left 
her, and she had good health thereafter, dying at the end of ten 
years, aged seventy-five. 


-c 'J72 - 

AGUE, 

From a Gothic word meaning to shake or tremble, that being 
the most characteristic and most striking symptom of the disease 
known usually as Intermittent Fever, Chill and Fever, and Fever 
and Ague ; why it should be called Fever and Ague, when the 
Ague comes first, thus reversing the phenomena, is not known, un¬ 
less it be for its easier designation of “ Fevernager,” that being the 
vulgar appellation, and which must have been invented “for short,” 
by the man who was said to have been so lazy, that when he had 
the disease he wouldn’t shake; it certainly takes all the energy 
oyt of a man, all his courage, all his ambition. The shaking of 
a regular Ague may be distinguished from a similar shaking 
from exposure to severe cold, the latter being, to some extent at 
least, controllable by force of the will, while no amount of mental 
effort can suppress the chill of Ague. 


-- 072 - 

FEVER AND AGUE. 

Many thousand families are annually afflicted with this discour¬ 
aging disease, which in many cases lays the foundation for tedi¬ 
ous and even fatal maladies. When the results are not fatal, and 
the disease is imperfectly cured, it is liable to a return from very 
slight causes every spring and fall. For these reasons the article 
on Miasm should be read and studied by every intelligent parent, 
for this is the cause of fever and ague in all its varieties. This 
same miasm is also the prolific cause of the various grades and 
degrees and forms of diarrhoea, dysentery, bilious, dengue, yel- 






110 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


low, and congestive fevers, and always and in all countries, 
wherever miasm is abundant, there cholera in its most deadly 
forms sweeps its multitudes into the remorseless grave. 

MIASM 

causes fever and ague by being introduced into the blood through 
the stomach and lungs, poisoning it, making it thick and black 
and heavy, so that it does not pass through the small blood-ves¬ 
sels or channels in various parts of the body, most noticeable in 
that portion of the system which from any cause is weaker than 
natural, giving names to disease according to the location ; if for 
example the blood almost ceases to pass through the channels of 
the lungs, it is 

pneumonia ; 

if it dams up in the inner coating of the bowels it is 

DYSENTERY; 

but if this impaction or u congestion” (which specially see) 
takes place in the lungs and heart, or in all the terminal blood¬ 
vessels of the body, the phenomena of fever and ague may be 
manifested. 

SYMPTOMS 

of fever and ague are numerous; to detail them in all their mi¬ 
nuteness would only confuse the mind of the reader, hence it is 
considered cpiite sufficient to say that there are four kinds. 

First. Quotidian, or daily coming on with a chill in the fore¬ 
noon, followed by a fever, then with a general perspiration; after 
that, for a few hours, the system seems to be in a natural condi¬ 
tion, of a proper warmth; but this does not last long, for the 
natural heat begins to decline, and in proportion the blood be¬ 
comes more sluggish, circulates with less freedom, until about the 
same time of day as in the preceding another chill takes place; 
and thus it may go on for w T eeks and months. This is the slight¬ 
est form of fever and ague, and is more easily cured than the 
others; the “Tertian,’’ for example, is more difficult of manage¬ 
ment ; it comes on about noon, to be repeated in its heat and 
sweating and natural stages, to return with its chill at the end of 
forty-eight hours. 


FEVER AND AGUE. 


11J 


The “ Quartan ” has its ague fit in the afternoon, to return again 
in four days. 

If the ague fits come earlier every day; it is an unfavorable 
sign; if they come later and later, or with less violence, it in¬ 
dicates a decline in the disease, and a looking forwards to a healthy 
termination. The 


COLD STAGE 

is attended with great thirst, as if nature knew that *the blood 
was so thick it could not circulate, and that if it was diluted with 
water a remedy would be afforded ; at length, as if some desperate 
effort were seen to be needed, this same watchful nature appears 
to arouse herself to the necessity of forcing a more active circula¬ 
tion with a view of warming up the system, and so fever comes 
on, in proportion to the chill both in increase and duration ; this 
effort at length seems to weaken the whole body, and it* relaxes; 
the fever subsides; perspiration, the perspiration of relaxation, 
takes place; then follows a season of apparent natural repose. 

CURE OF FEVER AND AGUE. 

In the cold stage hot drinks may be taken; the patient may be 
put to bed with bottles of hot water to the back, arm-pits, and 
feet. In the hot stage cooling drinks may be used, acid beverages, 
and feet and hands and forehead may be wiped with a mixture 
of vinegar and water. But these are not advised ; in all sickness, 
rest is the one great and best medicine; to be constantly doing 
something to a patient, requiring change of position, even to get 
up to take a drink of tea or water, does an injury, and much 
greater is the injury if this disturbance is associated with, having 
to take some disagreeable physic; the sick man should not even 
be talked to, much less questioned; it is effort enough to have to 
listen to anything for politeness’ sake, but to be required to give 
attention to a direct question and the instinctive effort necessary 
to give a correct answer is very often a waste of strength which 
the patient cannot afford. If conversation goes on in the sick- 
chamber at all it should be directed to other parties; it should be 
cheerful or of interest, and in a distinct tone, so that every word 
can be heard without an effort. In fever and ague as well as in 
all other diseases, the idea should be always present that the in- 


112 


HALL'S FAMLLT DOCTOR 


valid has no strength to spare, and that any exertion of that 
strength, physical or mental, which is not absolutely necessary, 
oiio-lit to he philosophically and conscientiously avoided. 

Of all diseases in the world that very common and familiar 
one, fever and ague, most requires to be treated with medicine, 
and is least likely to be cured safely, radically, and lastingly by 
any other means than medicine. 

The best time to begin to cure it is about two hours before the 
chill comes on. The object of any medicine in this case should be 
—First, to warm the system ; Second, to thin the blood ; Third, 
to unload it of its impurities. Therefore, about two hours before 
the expected chill, take two or more (See page 114) Pills ; they 
begin to act on the system at once, and tend to warm it, and thus 
to prevent its falling into the low, cold state of ague or chill; at 
the end of two hours the calomel begins to act on the liver, 
either directly or indirectly, with the effect of drawing out of the 
blood that element which makes it thick and bad, and causing it 
to be passed off into the bowels and outwards ; thus is the blood 
in fever and ague warmed, thinned, purified; but then it is ne¬ 
cessary to keep up the circulation in order to prevent its falling 
again into the low, cold stage of ague. The best way to do this 
is to give quinine. 

The tendency of the system in fever and ague is to run around, 
to pass through a process and to repeat itself, and, if you can in¬ 
terrupt that process, whether it be the cold or the hot stage, the 
habit of the disease is to that extent broken up; a single interrup¬ 
tion will sometimes effect the object in mild cases. For example, 
a man was told that he could cure himself of fever and ague, from 
which he had suffered severely and long, if he would start soon 
after breakfast, run two miles, bore a hole in a tree, make a plug, 
and drive it into the hole with an axe, and then run back home ; 
but he was not to stop an instant until his return. It was a per¬ 
fect cure; because the exertion of the body and the interest of 
the mind, which was wholly absorbed in the novelty of the thing, 
forced up the circulation of the blood to an extent which made a 
chill impossible. 

But as quinine acts upon the circulation of the blood in the 
same way, and with such certainty as to be considered “ a specific ” 
in that form of disease, meaning thereby a remedy which never 
fails; and as it is so much easier to swallow a few grains of quinine 


FEVER AND AGUE. 


113 


dissolved in water than to perforin the feat above named, almost 
ever} 7 one prefers to take the quinine, which, although it is 
made out of the bark of a tree growing in South America, dis¬ 
covered by an old negro, has made many persons invalids for life ; 
for it is thought by too many that as it is a vegetable remedy it 
can do no harm, if it does no good.. But a grain of strychnine 
or a drop of nicotine, both vegetable, can destroy life in an instant. 
This subject is specially alluded to here, because fever and ague 
is such a wide-spread disease, and quinine is such a common 
remedy, and is taken with such inconsiderate recklessness, that a 
public good may result from this extended treatment of the 
subjects connected with it. 

It is generally supposed that to have the best effects of quinine 
on the system, to prevent the recurrence of fever and ague, it 
should be taken in doses large enough to cause a ringing in the 
ears, varying from five to fifty grains at a dose, according -to the 
constitution, age, and habits of the person. But taken thus it 
has made many persons more or less deaf for life, and has origi¬ 
nated headaches and other forms of brain-affections which have 
embittered the whole subsequent existence; and yet the author 
advises it in all cases of fever and ague, as it makes the cure 
certain and permanent in all curable cases, without any ill effects 
whatever in a single case ever yet known, in small doces. 

If fever and ague is treated with quinine alone, it is liable to 
return in a week, a month, or a year, on the very first exposure of 
the body to any special cause of disease, as constipation, a bad cold 
or severe chill; it will break up the chill and fever to be sure, by 
waking up the circulation of the blood, warming it, and thus 
thinning it; but it does not rid the blood of those impuri¬ 
ties, of those miasmatic particles which caused the disease ; 
on the contrary, it. puts the whole system to the dangerous 
strain of forcing through it this unnatural mass of blood, thick, 
impure, and excessive in quantity. No wonder, that in passing 
through the delicate organ of hearing it so frequently impairs 
that sense for life, if, indeed, it does not destroy it forever; but 
by giving the calomel first, the blood is not only diminished large¬ 
ly in amount, it is not only thinned, but warmed and restored 
almost to its natural and pure condition. Then conies in the 
timely and benign stimulus of the quinine, to keep it m circula¬ 
tion, and besides, to do somewhat in improving the appetite, as 
8 


114 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


“ bitters ” do, and promoting, aiding the digestion, by which nourish¬ 
ment is derived from the food, and carried into the circulation, to 
give the strength so much needed to build up the body after so 
many and large drafts have been made upon it. 

The medical treatment which will cure all curable cases of 
fever and ague is as follows : 

At bedtime take a pill made of five grains of calomel, on e-sixth 
grain of tartar emetic, and one grain of gamboge; if it does not 
act on the bowels within twelve hours take one tablespoon of 
castor oil or Epsom salts every hour until the bowels do move, not 
eating any solid food during the day, except cold bread and but¬ 
ter, with tea, or bread-crust broken into any kind of soup, at live 
hours interval, and nothing whatever in the way of solid food be¬ 
tween ; may take hot tea freely ; meanwhile take in the morning, 
at two o’clock, and at six o’clock of that day, and during break¬ 
fast, dinner, and supper each day thereafter, the following 

FEVER-AND-AGUE DRAUGHT. 

.Put into a small bottle thirty grains of sulphate of quinine, 
add a tablespoonful of water and one teaspoonful of elixir vitriol, 
shake it w r ell; then add two tablespoonfuls of peppermint water; 
twelve ounces, that is, twenty-four tablespoonfuls of best brandy ; 
if not at hand, whiskey or gin or alcohol or spirits of wine; then 
add one teaspoonful of capsicum, which is the best red pepper 
powdered, and is only to be had at the best drug stores under the 
name of capsicum. Shake this well and take one tablespoonful at 
;a time- in three or four tablespoons of water; in violent or long- 
continued cases two tablespoons may be taken at a time, especially 
at. the morning dose. In milder cases, less than a tablespoon may 
be sufficient. As there is so much fever and ague all over the 
United States, especially in localities far removed from drug 
stoics and physicians, thus throwing the treatment and its respon¬ 
sibility on pel sons not familiar with medicines and sickness, this 
aiticle is moie extended than it-would be under other circumstan¬ 
ces, in order to make the instructions more full, and to acquaint 
the reader with the reasons of the treatment, what a medicine is 
given for, what it is expected to accomplish, and the effects which 
that medicine is expected to manifest; in this way it will be very 
satisfactory to the patient and friends to observe that the medi- 


FEVER AND AGUE. 


115 


cine is doing what it was expected to do, thus affording great 
encouragement and hope to all. Then again, there may be pecu¬ 
liar cases and constitutions upon which the medicine will have no 
effect whatever, when it would be useless to pursue it beyond a 
day or two. Then again, in a thinly settled country far away'from 
civilization, one or two ingredients may not be had, and the per¬ 
son might therefore think that if all could not be had it might be 
better to take none of it. But if, on taking such of the ingredients 
as can be had, the desired effects follow, then the way is clear and 
open. Therefore, it is better to state the philosophy of the whole 
treatment. When persons have fever and ague for a long time a 
hard cake forms above the edge of the ribs on the left side, as 
large as a plate ; this is commonly called an 

AGUE CAKE, 

t 

and is known to be the result of the hardening and enlargement 
of the spleen, situated at that side of the body. 

Physicians know that the spleen is the reservoir of the blood to 
supply it to the liver when wanted, and that all the blood of the 
* body passes through the spleen into the liver, whose work is to 
withdraw from the blood all its impurities. These impurities 
we call 

BILE. 

These facts show that the spleen and liver are intimately and di¬ 
rectly connected, consequently the disease of one is likely to be com¬ 
municated to the other. The ague cake shows that in fever and 
ague the spleen becomes diseased ; it is, then, a reasonable inference 
that in fever and ague the liver becomes diseased ; if proof of this 
were wanting, it is in the fact that in very protracted cases of 
fever and ague the liver swells and hardens, and there is an ague 
cake on that side also. It is, then, clear that the seat of the dis¬ 
ease in fever and ague is in the liver and spleen; the spleen, being 
the mere supplier of blood, is the passive ; the liver, working up the 
blood, is the active agent, and consequently we must address the ic- 
medies to it. To determine what is the matter in the Ik ei it is only 
necessary to notice, that as it and the spleen are liable to swell, to 
increase in size, and as that could not happen in an} othei w a> t lan 
by there being more blood in them than is natural, v e cone net lat 


116 


BALL'S FAMLLY DOCTOR. 


tlie blood sent there from the spleen to be worked up, so as to 
have the bile taken out of it, is not worked np fast enough, conse¬ 
quently accumulates and accumulates until it is so engorged that 
it can’t work; there is not room, as it were, for the little manufac¬ 
turer of bile to turn around or move about, like a man in a dense 
crowd of people—he can’t raise his hand to his head until by des¬ 
perate exertions he forces a little room for freer movements. The 
thing to be done, then, in the present case is to stimulate the liver 
to extra exertions in order to enable it to work up the blood, and 
thus diminish the amount. 

It is said in ordinary medical conversation, that calomel “acts” 
on the liver, that is, stimulates it to work. It is an undisputed fact, 
that if calomel is given, the liver is relieved ; the way in which this 
is done need not be discussed here ; it is sufficient to have the fact. 

When persons die of torpid or diseased liver, and it is examined 
after death, a substance is often found which is described to be as 

BLACK AS TAR. 

Yery often in liver-diseases when calomel is given it is followed 
within ten or a dozen hours by a discharge from the bowels as 
“black as tar,” and in other respects just like that which is found 
in the liver after death. Putting these things together shows that 
calomel does bring this black matter from the liver into the bowels 
and out of the body. Hence it is said that in effect calomel “ acts ” 
on the liver, “stimulates” it, unloads it. 

Besides this, calomel excites a kind of fever in the human body; 
this fever means' a quicker and stronger circulation of the blood 
through the body; this fever, this quicker and stronger circula¬ 
tion, extends to the liver, helping it to make a more desperate ef¬ 
fort to free itself from the crowd, or damming-up of the excess 
of blood within it; so calomel acts in two ways on the liver, directly 
or indirectly, the effect of both which is to relieve it of the load of 
accumulated blood. 

But after the liver has been whipped up to this extra exertion 
to disencumber itself of the excess of blood and bile, the reaction 
comes, and it is by this extra exertion left weaker than it was be¬ 
fore, so that at this point something must be done which is known 
to keep up the circulation—to excite, as it were, an artificial fever; 
and quinine, which is prepared from the bark of a tree, is 
known to do this almost infallibly. ITence after the calomel has 


FEVER AND AGUE. 


117 


unloaded the liver the quinine comes in to keep the passage clear, 
by forcibly hurrying the blood along all the blood-vessels every¬ 
where, so as to make another accumulation impossible ; so a dose 
is taken, and before its effects have passed off another is taken, 
keeping up the circulation until a habit of it is established, and 
the man is permanently well. The cure of fever and ague con¬ 
sists, then, in two things: 

The calomel purifies and thins the blood by helping the liver 
in some way to withdraw the bile from it, and in this thinner and 
purer condition it is easier to keep up its circulation along the 
blood-vessels than if it were as thick as mud. 

Thus it is seen that in reality fever and ague is an effect of the 
, accumulation of blood in the liver, of blood made thick and bad 
by the bile that is in it; calomel purifies and thins that blood and 
makes it easy of circulation, which circulation quinine promotes 
and keeps up until it becomes natural and healthful. 

CHILL AND FEVER, 

or fever and ague, or intermittent fever, are one and the same, 
as stated before; all showing, that there are two conditions of the 
disease: fever,or an excited circulation,and a condition when the 
circulation is not excited. Fever is the highest sta^e of excitement, 
chill is the lowest or slowest stage of excitement, or rather circula¬ 
tion, and the system, like a pendulum, swings between the two; 
the highest point to which the pendulum rises is the highest point 
of fever or heat; the lowest point to which it falls is the lowest 
point of cold. Health is the equilibrium of these, a regular state 
of natural warmth. 

In the. cold stage of an attack Nature seems to be aware of the 
danger,, for cold is death, and with an inherent instinct seems to 
feel the necessity of making a desperate effort for life, beginning 
at the heart, making it beat faster and stronger; but by the time 
the accumulations are removed she seems to be left exhausted, and 
falls down to the cold, slow stage again; but in getting down to 
that cold, slow stage she passes through the condition of health, for 
after each fever comes perspiration, but that is too much of a cir¬ 
culation for health; hence the perspiration passes off and the nat¬ 
ural condition of the body is resumed, and the patient feels almost 
well; but at this point the system has exhausted all its strength in 
keeping up. the circulation, gets weaker and weaker every instant, 
cooler and cooler, until another chill comes on. 


118 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


In view of all these statements, advantage may be taken of 
these different conditions of things to the effect of curing the dis¬ 
ease more speedily and with less strain or shock to the system, 
thus— 

# 

About two hours before the expected time for the chill, which 
comes on about ten o’clock in the morning in ordinary fever and 
ague, which brings us to about eight o’clock, take on an empty 
stomach the pill named; it soon begins that excitement in the sys¬ 
tem which calomel induces, and by the time two hours have passed, 
this excitement is at its highest point, and it is time for the chill 
to take place, thus -preventing the chill from coming on, or at 
least modifying it; hence an important step is' taken towards 
keeping the circulation more equable; then about noon take a v 
dose of quinine, keeping up the circulation, and repeat it at sup¬ 
per-time, which will keep it up well on towards morning; the 
whole treatment being to equalize the circulation, to prevent the 
system going down to the cold stage, and making it unnecessary to 
rise up to the stage of fever. Other things may do the same things 
which quinine does; high mental or moral or physical excitement 
coming on about two hours before the chill have accomplished 
the same thing; but as quinine is the most infallible and more 
convenient, physicians prefer the surest and easiest way. 

Various things are advised in medical books for alleviating the 
different symptoms in the successive stages of an attack ; as a 
warm bed, warm drinks, warm bottles to arm pits, back, and feet 
in the cold stage; cooling drinks, lemonade and similar things in 
the hot stage; but such things tend to weary the patient or op¬ 
press the stomach, hence, as a general rule, it is better to do noth-' 
ing but give the calomel and quinine, and let the sufferer have 
all the rest possible. . ’ • . . 

The quinine alone in half a glass of water is all that is really 
necessary in composing the draught before named; yet each of 
the “other ingredients have a separate advantage. The elixir 
vitriol, or sulphuric acid, or even vinegar, is added because it 
helps to dissolve the quinine more effectually, so that the same 
amount will do more good ; the peppermint water is used to give : 
an agreeable taste and smell; the brandy has its own stimulating 
effect, while the capsicum has a wonderfully warming power in 
the stomach and bowels, and also promotes the general circulation. 

If the attacks come on every day, or every other day, or 


FEVER AND AGUE. 


no 


every seventh, fourteenth, twenty-first, or twenty-eighth dav, 
it is well to take the calomel pill about two hours before the 
expected time of chill. There is a tendency to periodicity in- 
many diseases—a tendency to come on at certain hours of the 
twenty-four, or at intervals of twenty-four,, thirty-six,. or forty- 
eight hours, or at intervals of sevens of days, or once a 
month, or once a year, as hay fever, for example; but more 
than all others fever and ague tends to this periodicity, and ad 
vantage should be taken of this by beginning, as above directed, 
a while before the attack. Tartar emetic is put in the. pill be¬ 
cause it has a tendency to nauseate, to relax the system, and thus 
aids the action of the calomel in unlocking the bile. The gam¬ 
boge is to make it more certain that the bowels shall act within 
twelve hours, for if there is a good action of the bowels within 
ten or twelve hours after it is taken salivation is. almost impossi¬ 
ble. Salivation is caused by the mercury remaining too long in 
the system before it is worked off; it is caused by a- continuation 
of the action of the mercury ; hence unless it is desired to produce 
salivation the pill above-mentioned should not be taken oftener 
than once in a week, and should be worked off with castor oil or 
Epsom salts within twelve hours after it has been taken; but if it 
acts itself within twelve hours neither the oil nor salts are neces¬ 
sary, and so with any other preparation of calomel or mercury.; 
Neither castor-oil nor salts are essential ;» anything else may be 
taken which has the effect in the particular individual to move 
the bowels, such as the various spring waters sold at drug stores 
and other places. 

It is bad practice, it is unwise, it is positively injurious to 
attempt the cure of fever and ague with quinine alone; the per¬ 
nicious effects of such an endeavor are constantly narrated in 
medical publications. Sometimes it seeiiis efficient, but sooner 
or later the attack returns, in a w r eek or two, or month, or more; 
it is like cutting off a weed at the surface of the ground; but 
preceding the quinine with an efficient dose of calomel is digging 

it up by the roots. • 

When a person has succeeded in preventing a chill it is bettei 
to continue the quinine a week at least; then at the end of the 
week reduce the dose one half; then for a. week take it but twice 
a day; then only of mornings for a week; then omit altogether. 
In this way sure work will be made of it; otherwise it is likeiy 


120 


BALL'S FAMILY D OCT OB. 


to return, and thus liang on for weeks and months, baffling and 
discouraging the patient, if indeed it does not lay the foundation 
for dropsies and other chronic diseases more difficult of removal 
than the fever and ague. . 

In case the chills are not satisfactorily broken up after one pill, 
and after taking the cpiinine for two or three days, then double 
the dose, and take another pill in seven days after the first, and 
observation 'will* show when the disease is eradicated. 

Sometimes it is more efficient when the returns of the fever and 
ague are at the eve of the seventh, fourteenth, etc., days, to begin 
taking the quinine on-the day preceding. 

DIET IN FEVER AND AGUE. 

The patient ought not to eat much for breakfast, because the 
digestion of the food draws a good deal of heat from the general 
system to the stomach, leaving the body colder than it would have 
been, thus intensifying the chill. 

At noon, and for some hours after, the fever takes away the 
appetite generally, and it is always hurtful, even in health, to 
swallow a single mouthful without an appetite, for it will remain 
in the stomach unchanged, to oppress and worry for hours some¬ 
times. But by supper-time the system gets into its natural con¬ 
dition generally, and having'had little food, it is naturally very 
hungry; the multitude yield to this, make a hearty meal, have 
a bad night’s rest, wake up in the morning unrefreslied, un- 
strengtliened, with the result that disease is aided, aggravated, 
and kept in the system for a long time; the very mode of life 
antagonizes the efforts of nature to cure, and the wholesome effects 
of medicine. The general diet in fever and ague should be as 
follows: 

During the day in which the pills are acting, eat thrice, with 
at least five hours interval, taking nothing but hot tea or soup, 
with the crust of cold bread broken into it, using as much red 
pepper as practicable, because it is warming; the best is that 
known in good drug stores as “ capsicum,” or Cayenne pepper. 
On other days, whether quinine is taken or not, 

BREAKFAST 

not later than seven o’clock, because a good warm meal rouses 


FEVER AND AGUE. 


121 


the circulation and increases the warmth, thus early begins to 
antagonize the cold stage which tends to come on at about ten. 
This breakfast should consist of some hot drink, with cold bread 
and butter, and some fresh meat, fish, or fowl, with plenty of 
capsicum; cut the meat up fine, chew it deliberately, and eat 
slowly, about half as much as you want, for if you fill the 
stomach it will be oppressed, and thus will the chill be increased. 
If you eat but half as much as you wanted, you will feel in half 
an hour that you have taken quite enough, and will be glad that 
you had not eaten more. . 

DINNER 

same as breakfast, not sooner than one o’clock. One vegetable 
may be added, but no dessert whatever. 

SUPPER 

should be about sundown, aiming not to eat at shorter intervals 
than five or six hours, because it takes the stomach about five 
hours to “ work up,” to digest an ordinary meal, and it should be 
allowed some rest, otherwise it would soon be overworked, and 
would not digest anything well, healthfully, because it had not 
the strength; that is 

DYSPEPSIA. 

The best supper for the fever and ague patient is a cup of hot 
drink, some cold bread and butter, and nothing else whatever. 
Not anything afterwards until breakfast next morning. There 
are two things which the patient should watch against with great 
care—costiveness, and getting chilled. As to tins last, see article 
on 

CHECKING PERSPIRATION. 

To prevent costiveness, either use whatever remedy you are 
familiar with for that purpose, or common castor-oil (which see); 
take about a tablespoon, more or less, night and morning just 
enough to cause the bowels to act once in twenty-four hours, for 
if that is not the case, quinine will injure the system, will do 

more harm than good. 


122 


BALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


Persons will always get well of fever and ague more rapidly 
by removing to another locality, either farther north or to a more 
hilly or mountainous section, where there is less liability to have 
stagnant water or sluggish streams. 

If calomel and quinine cannot be had, or these medicines 
from some cause cannot be taken, another remedy is found 
sometimes efficient. After clearing out the bowels effectually, 
take four grains of alum, and three grains of sulphate of iron, 
made into pills, three times a day for ten or fifteen days; it cer¬ 
tainly has, now and then, been exceedingly efficacious; at the 
same time, confidence is not imposed upon any other remedy than 
calomel and quinine. 

* 

A HOMOEOPATHIC REMEDY 

is said to be found in filling an ounce-bottle half full of homoeo¬ 
pathic arsenicum pellets, drop on them five drops of 

fow t ler’s solution, 

or arsenical solution, being a preparation of potash and arsenic; 
take ten of these pellets every four hours, putting them on the 
back part of the tongue, but be sure to keep the bowels acting 
freely all the time, at least once or twice a day; or, after the 
allopathic manner, take from three to ten drops three times a 
day, in one or two tablespoons of water. Arsenic is a poison, and 
thus-taking it, it may disturb the stomach, constipate the bowels, 
causing headache, confusion of mind, dizziness, oppression, de¬ 
spondency ; in such case leave off its use for a few days, and 
then begin again. 


water-cure treatment 

is often efficient when it is impossible to procure any medicine 
whatever, hence the usefulness of its being detailed here. 

Begin by giving tepid injections to unload the bowels freely; 
if there is sickness of stomach, poor appetite or coated tongue, 
drink warm water freely until copious vomiting is induced, this 
brings up a large quantity of bile, and thus helps to unload the 
liver. Use the wet sheet, or in the last stage immersion is desir¬ 
able ; if there is headache, use the 


FEVER ARE AGUE. 


123 


HEAD BATTI, 

by folds of cloths dipped in cold water, placed on the head and 
renewed every five minutes, or a stream of water poured on the 
head with the face downwards, the head being held by an attend¬ 
ant over the side of the bed, protecting the bed by a sheet 
•or blanket thrown over the patient’s neck and shoulders, a tub 
being placed on the floor to receive the water. This water should 
be poured from a pitcher in a continuous stream until the head is 
cooled, that being the object; the water running down over the 
temples and cooling them off rapidly. 

Or the patient may lay down on the floor in such a position, 
having a pillow or two under the shoulders, as to hold the head 
back in a basin of water several inches deep, thus keeping the 
scalp in the cold water all the time. When the fever is absent a 
hot bath might be taken, followed by a cold dripping sheet or 
shower bath, all the time keejfing a cold-water bandage around 
the abdomen, covering the region of the liver; this opens the 
pores of the skin over the liver, and thus gives exit to disease- 
producing matters. 

Slight, attacks are cured by a few “ packs ” (which see, under 
head of bathing), or a single immersion in cold water; but if the 
svstem has been under the influence of these attacks for weeks 
and months, a patient treatment is necessary by gradually es¬ 
tablishing the healthful natural action of the skin, spleen, and 
liver. 

In connection with the above, the diet should be of bread made 
of the whole of the wheat grains, Graham bread or, cracked wheat 
made into a mush, with a little milk and sugar, to make it more 
palatable, with a moderate use of fresh, tender vegetables; apples 
baked, stewed, or raw; berries, grape's, tomatoes, prunes, and 
dried fruits of every description; or break into warm drinks the 
crust of light bread. Drink water freely, exercise in modera¬ 
tion, carefully avoid over-exertion; boating, horseback and car¬ 
riage riding; so <^s to have the benefit of the out-door air without 
much fatigue; for over-exertion, great tiredness, may bring on an 
attack any day. 


124 


BALDS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


MIASM 

Means emanation, a rising up from the surface of the earth; it 
is a result of the combination of three things : heat, moisture, and 
vegetation; the three together give rise to decomposition, a destruc¬ 
tive decay of vegetable matter, the product of which is “ Miasm,” 
the great commencing cause of fever and ague, and other more 
serious forms of fever. Whether miasm is a gas, an impure or 
poisonous air, holding in it a vegetable product or a living thing, 
animal in its nature, is not here discussed ; for whatever it may be, 
the laws which govern it are understood, and its effects towards 
orisfinatino; various forms of disease are the same, while the 
vegetable material of leaves, grass, and wood is the thing from 
which miasm arises. There is one condition essential to its pro¬ 
duction,—this vegetable matter of leaves, grass, and wood must 
first decay ; but this decay cannot take place without both mois¬ 
ture and heat acting on this dead vegetation, for the leaves and 
grass and wood must die first. If a piece of wood is kept under 
water it will not decay in a thousand years ; if it is always kept 
dry it will last always ; or if laid on an iceberg in Greenland it 
will endure for ages. Therefore, to cause fever and ague, vege¬ 
table matter must be decomposed, must be rotted by the applica¬ 
tion of moisture and a certain degree of heat, which, it has been 
observed, must be over eighty of Fahrenheit. 

The farther north we go the less fever and ague there is, be¬ 
cause it is ton cold, there is not heat enough. In the great deserts 
of the world there is no fever and ague, because there is no mois¬ 
ture, and vegetation dries up. But where leaves and grass fall 
and die, and twigs and limbs and logs of wood float on our ponds 
and streams, acted upon by our summer suns, there fever and ague 
abounds, attacking individuals, striking down whole families, and 
afflicting extensive districts of country. 

The localities most favorable for the production of miasm are 
swampy lands, flat river bottoms, mill ponds, and other stagnant 
bodies of water. The common observation of the people is, that • 
such conditions cause fever and ague. Fever and ague, bilious, 
yellow, and congestive fevers are one and the same disease essen¬ 
tially, only different in degree; the cause of them all, when they 


MIASM. 


125 


prevail among a whole community, is miasm more or less concen¬ 
trated. An experiment lias been tried, that if a barrel or two of 
the aii of a miasmatic locality in the South is taken a thousand 
miles north, and placed in a room where a man is sleeping, the 
room kept closed and of a southern temperature, fever and ague 
will be caused in a day or two. 

HOW MIASM OPERATES. 

The above experiment shows that the thing in the miasmatic 
air which causes ague is taken into the system by being breathed 
into the lungs and swallowed into the stomach; in both ways 
passing directly into the blood, to corrupt and poison, making it 
bad blood; proven by the fact that the blood of such persons is 
thicker and blacker than is natural, growing thicker and blacker, 
to become bilious fever ; but in congestive fevers it is seen in the 
most concentrated form, almost as black as tar in some parts of 
the body, and so thick with impurities sometimes, that if a lancet 
is run into a vein in the arm, the blood will not flow; called 
“ congestive ” from the very fact that the blood dams up to the 
extent of approaching a condition of solidity ; these more fearful 
forms of fever, are more common in the South, where it is 
warnjer, where the flatness of the country favors stagnant waters, 
and where vegetation is so luxuriant that all the conditions of 
the miasmatic production are increased and intensified; thus 
miasm causes a third form of disease in the prairies of the North¬ 
west, the fever and ague which rankles in the system for weeks 
and months and even years without producing fatal results. 
Along the stagnant bayous of the South, with surfaces covered 
with a green, bubbling, fermenting material, congestive fevers 
are generated which strike down the strongest constitutions, and 
the most stalwart and vigorous of men are laid stiff in death in a 
few hours 

PREVENTIVE MEASURES. 

Although the heat of the summer’s sun cannot be modified by 
any human agencies, yet much can be clone by draining flat 
lands, by filling up low places and stagnant ponds and streams, 
and by the removal of undergrowths, and using all possible 
means for the promotion of cleanliness in all the surroundings of 


126 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


human habitations. But until communities can be educated to 
precautions like these, individuals will have to protect themselves 
by antagonizing the effects of miasm on their own persons and on 
the members of their household, and this is not difficult to be done, 
if the laws of miasm are well understood. 

Fever and ague generally comes on in the fall of the year, 
although when a person has once had it, it often reappears in the 
spring; but a first attack is usually in the autumn, because the 
continuous warmth.of the summer has heated the surface of the 
earth to the degree requisite for the decomposition of leaves, 
grass, and twigs. When the atmosphere is impregnated with 
miasm, its virulence changes several times during the twenty- 
four hours; at noon-day and at midnight it is least hurtful to 
breathe it. In the earlier years of the country, when Charleston 
in South Carolina was so frequently visited with the yellow 
and other malignant fevers, the merchants and others in the 
better'walks of life arranged to live in the country in the summer¬ 
time ; but as it was necessary to be at their business places in the 
city at least occasionally, common observation impressed the 
fact on the minds of observant persons, that those who rode to 
town in the heat of the day and returned in the heat of the day, 
escaped the fever; while those who came in the morning and 
returned late in the afternoon, when it was cool and comfortable, 
were sure to get sick, while it was almost certain death to remain 
in town all night. 

In the early days of Californian gold discovery it was a received 
fact that persons who slept on the Isthmus at Panama usually died 
with fever in a few days. Such a result was so uniform that 
the commanders of vessels would never give the sailors permission 
to remain all night; it was imperative for them to return before 
sundown. An eminent Bishop, having occasion to go to Califor¬ 
nia, was invited to perform a marriage ceremony at Panama. 
Notwithstanding the caution of the captain of the steamer to be 
sure and return to sleep on board, he decided- after the ceremony 
that he would remain all night; lie left early next morning ; but 
the disease had entered his blood; he was taken sick the same 
day and died soon after. 

Travellers who have occasion to cross the marshy country out¬ 
side of modern Rome are invariably reminded of the almost fatal 
results of sleeping all night on the way. 


MIASM . 


• 127 


Scientific observation lias shown that these results are founded 
on the operation of certain physical laws as imperative as that of 


gravitation. 


Heat, rarefies the air on the surface of the earth and it ascends 
to the higher regions; cold causes its condensation, and it falls to 
the ground again. At midday in summer, at Charleston, the heat 
is such that the miasm is carried at once towards the clouds, while 
the atmosphere on the surface of the earth is so rarefied by the 
heat that it contains scarcely any miasm ; as the sun goes down 
it becomes cooler, the air is condensed and falls to the surface of 
the earth, or so near it that it is readily breathed into the nostrils, 
is carried to the month, and with the saliva makes its way into 
the stomach, to be conveyed into the general circulation of the 
blood ; as the air gets cooler towards midnight the miasm falls so 
near the surface that it is not breathed, hence is innocuous; but 
with the rising sun the air is warmed again, and the miasm as¬ 
cends to a height to be readily breathed in; but by midday there 
is none left. This is the reason why persons in the country, could 
come into Charleston at midday with impunity; they could have 
gone in at midnight also without harm, but by remaining all night 
the poisonous air of sunset and sunrise were taken into the system 
and death resulted. 

' It is seen, then, that it is the air about sunrise and sunset which 
causes the poison of fevers, of whatever grade; but to make that 
air innocuous, all that is necessary is to make it as warm as at 
midday, by kindling a bright blazing fire on the hearth in the 
family rooms at sunrise and sunset in miasmatic localities; and 

Kl ' 

sit by that fire until breakfast has been taken in the morning, and 
supper has been taken at sundown. As long ago as eighteen 
hundred and twenty this precaution was- taken by the more intel¬ 
ligent persons of the Western country, and with unfailing success,- 
these families being exempt from fever and ague, while scarcely 
a house escaped where these precautions were disregarded. 

The clear sharp rule is— 

In all localities where fevers prevail, from June to frost, avoid 
going outside of the door until breakfast has been taken, and 
dress before a blazing fire. Go into the house before sundown, 
and remain in a room where there is a cheerful fire until after 
supper ; after that there is no danger from being in the night air 
until sunrise, because the atmosphere is cold and heavy with its 


123 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


load of miasm, and rests immediately oil the surface of the 
earth. 

The advantage of eating breakfast before going out of doors 
in the morning, and of taking supper at sundown is this, the 
breakfast warms and strengthens the stomach, which has taken 
nothing to sustain it for perhaps twelve hours, aiid the presence 
of food in it gives a vigor to the circulation which repels the at¬ 
tack of disease ; while supper tends to revive the body, weak and 
tired by the labors of the day. 

It is certainly a very delightful thing after a hot summer day 
to sit in the porch or on the stoop or under a tree, before the door, 
and have the balmy breeze of a summer evening to cool the 
fevered face and brow; but in southern countries, where epidemic 
fevers kill multitudes every day, it is a well-understood fact that 
the sundown breezes are indeed most delicious, yet they are but 
the prelude of greater fatalities for several days to come. 

Within a very few years the heir to a European throne, while 
travelling in summer through a marshy Hat country, expressed a 
wish to get lip early in the morning and take a ride on horseback 
in the cool of the day; his host represented to him that it was 
dangerous to do so, and urged him to take his breakfast before 
starting. The suggestion was disregarded, he was stricken down 
with the fever in a day or two, and soon thereafter died. 

In all these cases where it seems imperative to go early into the 
morning air in summer, and a regular warm breakfast cannot be 
taken, the next best thing is to take some kind of hot drink, or a 
sandwich, or one or two apples, oranges, or plain cakes, something 
which will stimulate the stomach to that kind of activity which 
unquestionably has the effect to repel disease or nullify the 
causes of it with great uniformity. 

The French and Spanish creoles of the South livelong and health¬ 
fully ; they are proverbially exempt in a great measure from the 
ill effects of the fevers of the country. It is universal with them 
to have a cup of hot coffee brought to their bedsides before they get 
up in the morning, or arrange to have it on their tables ready for 
them as soon as dressed ; a custom taught by the common-sense 
observation of the people of the country, ignorant of the rea¬ 
son, but confirmed as to the facts of the case. 

If a bundle of facts are thrown together there may seem at 
first to be no uniformity in the operation of miasmatic laws, but 


MIASM. 


129 


if these facts are analyzed and properly classed, they will be 
found to be beautifully simple. 

A gentleman of wealth built for himself a handsome country 
seat, costing a large amount of money; his calculation was to spend 
Ins summeis there with his large family of growing daughters. 
Ine situation was splendid, for it overlooked the bay, and the 
sea and its pure breezes were relied upon to plant the rosy line 
of health on every daughter’s cheek. In a short time the coach¬ 
man was taken with chills and fever; soon afterwards another 
member of the family, and then another. Before the summer 
was over he abandoned the place, and by the next year had built 
another mansion in another locality; for he saw that the prevail¬ 
ing winds blew over a sheet of stagnant water, in the direction of 
Ins house, but with their delicious coolness, morning and evening, 
they came heavily freighted with the deadly miasm of the pond. 
Ilis nearest neighbor on the other side of the pond never had a 
case of chill and fever in his family. Lesson: in selecting a lo¬ 
cation for a house, make a note of the direction of the prevalent 
winds, that they be from the house towards miasmatic localities, 
and not from miasmatic localities towards the house. 

A Aew 1 orker, wishing to have more room and a purer air for 
his growing family, purchased a site further up-town, and erected a 
dwelling upon it, which cost him over a hundred thousand dollars. 
He moved into it, but within a few weeks several members of 
his family had intermittent fever, a mild form of fever and ague. 
He abandoned the house at once, because he found that it had 
been built upon a sunken lot, which had been filled up with every 
variety of city garbage, and kitchen offal*the bottom of the lot hav¬ 
ing been previously covered with water, and receiving the drainage 
of pastures and woodlands with their dead grass and leaves. For 
years the emanations of them came up through the cellars and 
crevices of the floors night and day. Many years ago the bed of 
a small stream w r as filled up in Rochester and a street made of it; 
about that time the cholera made its second appearance in this 
country; the street was dug up for the purpose of laying down water 
or gas pipes, thus allowing the accumulated miasms of years to 
rise and spread themselves along the whole line of the street, with 
the effect that scarcely a family or resident escaped the cholera, 
and along that street its most fearful ravages were made, showing 

that the elements of miasm may be covered up for years under 
9 


130 


HAL VS FAMILY DOCTOR . 


many feet of earth, but on being allowed to escape, have their 
most malignant effects, teaching the lesson, “ Never locate a dwel¬ 
ling over a sunken lot, or on the line of a filled-up drain or pond 
or running stream.” 

A well-to-do farmer had, in the course of years, made himself a 
splendid home, regarded as one of the most healthy locations in 
all that region of country. But in the fall of the year a servant was 
taken sick, then another, then a member of the family, until the 
handsome mansion became a hospital, and at length the whole 
neighborhood for miles became infected with various forms of 
disease, chiefly fever and ague. There had been a freshet in the 
spring, the mill-dam had been washed away, and left the black 
slimy bottom of the pond exposed to the hot sun. And as this 
dark mud was largely made up of the decomposition of leaves 
and grass and twigs and rotten logs, the accumulations of years, 
miasm was generated with great rapidity, and in its most concen¬ 
trated and malignant form ; the remedy in this case was either to 
fill up with fresh earth, or with water a foot or two or more deep, 
for miasm does not rise through water, nor has it as yet been known 
to cross any rapid stream a mile wide, the presumption being that 
the water rapidly absorbs it and carries it away. 

Some years ago there was a very unhealthy neighborhood of 
considerable extent along a valley, for the most part dry except a 
few months in winter; agues and fevers and diarrhoeas and 
dysenteries became increasingly frequent, until the discourage¬ 
ment of the people was such that they began to sell out for what 
prices they could get, and move away. The very next year there 
was scarcely a single case of sickness, and the remarkable health¬ 
fulness continued for several years, when it as suddenly returned. 
The reason was, that by the operation of the not uncommon 
a crevasses ” of the Mississippi River, the surplus water found its 
way into this valley, covered its bottom with a running stream 
several feet deep. Later on, by another change, the stream of 
water ceased to flow through, having been diverted to another 
channel, and left the locality as “ sickly ” as before. 

A neighborhood noted from time immemorial for its healthful¬ 
ness, is desolated with a fatal disease in a single season. Multi¬ 
tudes of cases of this kind have occurred, because the sickness 
was preceded by the driest summer known within the memory of 
the “oldest inhabitant;” that dry summer evaporated the water 


MIASM. 


131 


from the ponds and water-courses in all that section of the coun¬ 
try, leaving muddy beds exposed to a summer sun. 

Another time a section of country proverbially sickly escapes 
the annual visitation, while every one was looking forward to a 
season of greater sickliness than had ever been known; the reason 
was that the greater amount of rain had kept the beds of streams 
and shallow ponds so deeply covered with water that the sun 
could not act upon the matters fruitful of miasm. On one occasion 
a uniformly healthy section of country became suddenly sickly in 
the early part of August, becoming more and more virulent for 
a whole month, when it suddenly ceased, and everybody began to 
get well, from an inevitable law of miasm. Up to the first of July, 
there not oidy had been little or no rain, but the weather was 
fearfully and continuously warm ; but the warmth and drought 
continuing, the disease at once abated, because the unusually 
warm and dry weather combined to empty the ponds and shallow 
streams of their water, leaving only their muddy .beds, festering 
in the hot sun, engendering miasm in large cpiantities and of a 
most virulent character; but the heat continuing, and no rain fall¬ 
ing, the bottoms of these springs and ponds and shallow streams, 
became dried to powder, then there was no moisture, and where 
there is no moisture there can be no miasm. 

Thus it is seen there is a beautiful uniformity in the law of 
miasm in all countries and in all seasons. Miasm and disease 
will always follow the exposure of the bottoms and edges of 
ponds, springs, and shallow streams to a hot sun; that disease 
will be promptly arrested when those bottoms are reduced to the 
dryness of powder, or. are covered with a foot or two of water, 
especially running water. 

Miasmatic diseases follow exposure to the cool air of morning 
and evening, about sunrise and sunset, especially when the stom¬ 
ach is empty or the body is weary, tired, exhausted, or the mind is 
harassed or distressed, because in any of these conditions miasma¬ 
tic influences are unresisted, are taken into the stomach and lungs, 
absorbed into the blood, and rapidly corrupt and poison it; this 
poison giving rise, according to its virulence and the weakness of 
the constitution, to the various forms of autumnal disease, begin¬ 
ning with the mildest type of ague and fever, sometimes called 
fever and ague, or intermittent fever, bilious, congestive, and yel¬ 
low fevers, as well as diarrhoea and dysentery. M hen the causes 


132 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


of miasm are general, miasmatic disease pervades whole neigh¬ 
borhoods ; when confined to circumscribed localities, only one or 
two families suffer, or single members of a family. It is impor¬ 
tant for useful, practical purposes, to give some facts on these 
points in order to impress the mind indelibly, and to be handed 
down from father to son. 

Some years ago, on the eve of inaugurating a United States 
President, a large number of the inmates of a fashionable hotel 
of Washington City were taken ill; so many persons were so 
suddenly and alarmingly attacked with a variety of forms of sick¬ 
ness, that the impression was made throughout the whole country 
that it was the result of accidental poisoning; numbers died 
within a few days, some lingered on the borders of the grave for 
weeks and months, only to recover with a blasted constitution; 
others again never recovered. It was finally ascertained that the 
drains of the house had been obstructed to such an extent that 
when the privies were entered their contents spirted up between 
the joints of the fioors; these contents were made up of what is 
ordinarily found in privies, together with the backwater of a slug¬ 
gish stream, the vicinity of which has been afflicted with the 
various grades of fever and ague for time immemorial. Persons 
who came to the hotel and took supper, and no other meal, were 
sometimes more affected than those who ate there all the time, for 
two reasons: First. The house was warmer at night, making the 
miasm more concentrated. Second. All men, especially travel¬ 
ers, are more wearied and exhausted at the close of the day, hence 
are more likely to suffer from the effects of bad air, especially of 
a miasmatic atmosphere. The ladies in the house, as permanent 
boarders, were less affected, as a general rule, than their hus¬ 
bands, who were away the greater part of the day. 1st. Because 
ladies generally rise late and come direct to the breakfast-table, 
thus “ stay ” their stomachs at once, and are not chilled by the cold 
air. 2d. They are for the greater part of the time in their rooms 
in the upper parts of the building, while gentlemen come home 
to tea weary and worn-out, and remain on the lower floors, where 
the noisome gases are more concentrated, and which they breathe 
for several hours in succession ; in the morning they rise earlier, 
go down-stairs to breathe the miasm in its concentrated forms 
and on an empty stomach. In all these statements the effects of 
miasm are various, but on close observation the laws of its action 
are as uniform as those which govern the motion of all worlds. 


MIASMA. 


133 


A family had lived for years on an elevated position, with a 
reputation for healthfulness which was the envy of many. But 
on one occasion the cook was taken sick, then the house-girl, and 
one hy one the different members of the family, until nearly the 
whole household was seriously ill of a low form of fever. The 
investigation of the family physician pointed out the fact that 
some alterations had been made on the premises, and that a quan¬ 
tity of boards had been piled up not far from the kitchen door; 
on taking these down, a depression was found to have been made 
by having dug out some of the earth to make mortar; into this 
depression all the water and slops thrown from the kitchen door 
found their way, until a respectable little lake was formed, the 
whole dirty surface of it bubbling up with its decompositions of 
filthy ingredients. It was immediately drained, sprinkled all over 
the bottom with lime, filled to heaping with fresh earth, with the 
result that, from that very day, every member of the family began 
to improve in health; the result being that all were restored. 

THE PFwINCE OF WALES, 

in the long and dangerous illness in the autumn of 1871, and 
which so excited the fears of the civilized world, by reason of. 
what revolutions might follow his death, was for many days on the 
very verge of the grave from a low form of fever, with which he 
was attacked in common with his servant and a nobleman who 
had been with him some days ; only the Prince survived. These 
three persons had to pass daily a certain yard where manure was 
manufactured ; the inhalation of this offensive ei!lu\ia was so 
hurtful that the Duke of Beaufort, having had to pass it twice 
in one day, and once at another time, was taken seriously ill 
the same night. Thus it is that high and low are alike the 
victims of miasmatic influences, and will continue to be in the 
ages to come, unless a practical intelligence suggests measures 
which, in the light of miasmatic laws, shall prevent disease. 

A certain room in the house of a family of means was reno¬ 
vated and set apart for the convenience and comfort of transient 
guests. It was summer-time. The first person who slept m it 
was taken ill next day; returned home and got well. Next, a 
member of the family had occasion to occupy it for a day or two, 
and became seriously ill; similar incidents were noticed for near y 
a year, when at last the observation was made that every case ot 


! 

134 HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 

illness was preceded by the person having slept in that room. 
Beautiful and faultless as it was, it seemed impossible that the 
sickness could result from lodging in it; but the result was so 
uniform, the conclusion could no longer be resisted, that there 
was death somewhere in that room. All at once it was remem¬ 
bered that it had been repapered. The physician advised that all 
the new paper should be removed. In one part of the wall it 
was found that several bricks had been removed, and in order to 
make the surface uniform and even, the upholsterer had filled up 
the hole with a mixture of paste and odd pieces of wall-paper, 
which in time began to decay and give out noisome exhalations, 
the paste being made of vegetable matter which soon began to 
decompose. 

It is evident from the preceding facts in reference to miasm 
and its laws, and the sudden appearance of unusual sickness in a 
neighborhood, in a house, or in a single family, that the first 
effort should be to make a thorough investigation of the causes, 
and then remove them promptly; or if that cannot be done, to 
convey the patient to some distant and more salubrious locality. 

Within the author’s memory, Louisville, Kentucky, was one of 
the sickliest localities in all that portion of the western country.- 
It abounded in stagnant p<5nds, the site originally having been 
very uneven. Through the writings of several of the professors 
in the Medical Department of Transylvania University, men the 
most eminent of their time, to wit: Caldwell and Dudley and 
Yandall, and especially John Estin Cook, the giant of them all, 
every pond was drained, and the depressions filled up, with the 
result of an immediate improvement in the health of the people ; 
and at the end of forty years, Louisville is now one of the health¬ 
iest, as well as one of the most beautiful and thriving cities of the 
whole Mississippi valley. 

Many of our farmers, in all sections of the country, have sick¬ 
ness in their families for a greater part of every year, which 
could be escaped by simply draining their farms, or such portions 
of them as have too much water in the soil. 

SITES FOR DWELLINGS 

should be selected with an intelligent reference to the facts which 
have been stated; it is a sad thing, after the effort of a lifetime in 


A USCTJLTATION. 


135 


getting a little ahead in the world, and to feel able to build a house 
to suit one’s self, expecting it to be a home for life, to make an 
error in location, and find it to be so “ sickly” as to enforce its 
abandonment, because the laws of miasm were either not under¬ 
stood or were disregarded. 

O 


C OK 


ACID, 

From a Latin word meaning sour, acet . There are natural acids, 
as in the lemon; and artificial, as the common vinegar, under 
the name of acetic acid. Then there is a pyroligneous acid, mean¬ 
ing fire and wood, because it is made by destructive distillation, 
wood shavings put in water to be heated to a certain point. The 
vegetable acids are more natural and healthful than the artificial; 
hence for all medicinal purposes, internally, the natural acids, as 
of fruits, are by far the most beneficial. The acids, vinegar espe¬ 
cially, seem to have an action on food most like that liquid which 
the stomach generates to convert what we eat to a condition capa¬ 
ble of imparting nutriment to the system, called gastric juice. 
Hence when there is a deficiency in the quantity of the gastric 
juice or in its strength, in dyspepsia, a tablespoonful or two of 
good vinegar promotes digestion. 


■>- 


AUSCULTATION 

Is listening to the sounds given to the ear when it is laid on the 
chest, whether over the lungs or the heart, to ascertain whether 
they are in a healthy or diseased condition. To do this with ad¬ 
vantage, the person must first know what are the natural, health¬ 
ful sounds of these organs. # 

Something can be told by an experienced and quick medical 

ear, whether certain diseased conditions exist in the bowels, by 






130 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


placing the ear . over the belly, and also, at certain stages, whether 
there is a living child in the womb. 

But as actual heart-disease is comparatively rare, auscultation 
is mainly applied to the chest, to ascertain the condition of the 
lungs, whether they are consumptive or not. Consumption seldom 
exists on both sides of the lungs at the same time, hence if the 
sounds given out on corresponding spots of the chest are the same 
the presumption is that there is no consumptive decay.' 

Consumption,nearly always commences at the top ox the chest, 
immediately under the collar bone. If the sound given to the 
ear is precisely the same at corresponding parts, the presumption 
is there is no consumptive decay in either. 

If in either of the above cases the pulse is uniformly about 
seventy beats in the minute, consumption is absolutely impossible. 

When the air is drawn into the lungs in their healthy condition 
a distinct sound is given, something like the gentle moving of the 
air in the tops of the trees on a summer’s day. This- is not so dis¬ 
tinct in health when it comes out.. 

If the sound is more distinct coming out than in going in, there 
is something wrong. If that sound is blowing, or like blowing 
into a wide-mouth vial, then there is a “ cavity ” in the lungs, 
which means that there is consumptive decay, which, if it could 
be seen, would be like a hole made in a cheese by mice eating into 
it; it would be an empty cavity. 

• But suppose in drawing in a breath, or in going out, a sound 
is heard as when blowing through a quill or other tube into a 
thick fluid, as syrup or molasses, that is proof that the lungs have 
decayed away at that spot, and that the cavity is partially filled 
with decaying lung-substance in the shape of thick, yellow mat¬ 
ter, just like that which is spit out of mornings, or during the 
night, meaning that the person is in the last and hopeless stages 
of consumption. 

There are cases in which the family or friends of the invalid must 
be thrown upon their own judgment, when it is indispensable that 
they should decide for themselves, as when a physician cannot be had, 
or implicit confidence cannot be imposed on him. It may be that the 
question is to be decided whether business should be given up, or 
serious sacrifices must be made to raise the means to take a long jour¬ 
ney in search of health; or it may be a question of dying from 
home among strangers, or in the bosom of one’s family. There are 


AUSCULTATION,. 


1 °T 

Xu i 

many cases of consumption where persons of ordinary intelligence 
can decide correctly themselves, thus: take a healthy man into a 
quiet room, throw back the collar of the coat, lay your ear flat on 
the vest, hold your own breath so as to make no noise, and listen to 
the sounds given out in a few inspirations and expirations; then lay 
your ear on the breast, in the same way, and in the same spots; as in 
the healthy man ; if the sounds given out are pretty much the same 
in both persons at each point in the chest in front, or at the points 
of the shoulder blades in the rear or between the shoulder blades, 
where alone the lungs are fastened to the body, then, whatever 
may be the matter with the patient, there can be no consumptive 
decay. But if you hear the blubbering sound there is decay, 
there is a cavity, and that cavity is partly filled with yellow 
matter, the result of decayed lung-substance; if with this the 
pulse is among the nineties or over, it is confirmed consumption 
in its last stages, and the man must die; except that if there be 
very great energy of character or a great force of will, one in a 
thousand can live down the disease, and live on for a number of 
years, and finally die of some ordinary malady. 

Sometimes in laying the ear on the chest there is no more 
sound than if it were laid against a wall; this means that the 
lungs at that point are solidified, that the little air-cells of the 
lungs, of various sizes, from a pin’s head to a pea, are filled up 
with tubercles, which are the seeds of consumption ; or with 
blood, as in inflammation of the lungs, which is the same as 

pneumonia. ; 

or some other material, meaning in each case a dangerous con¬ 
dition of the lungs,-always giving a symptom which is never by 
any possibility absent—shortness of breath. 

In Asthma the sounds given out are of a wheezing, whistling 
character, or of a multitude of chirruping birds. There are other 
sounds given out by the lungs in different states of health and 
disease, but they are of minor importance, are not so appreciable 
by the inexperienced, nor can their meaning be decided upon 
except by those who have had large and long experience.- These 
are omitted because they would rather confuse than profit the 
general reader; only the obvious, unmistakable symptoms and 

indications have been stated. 


138 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


ABSCISSION 

Is the cutting out or off some useless or dead part from the body. 

-- 

ABSINTHE 

Is a new intoxicant, and a great favorite with the French of late 
years, especially of the Parisians, by whom its employment has 
become so general, and its observed effects so baleful and demon¬ 
strable, that the government has had its attention directed to the 
important subject of limiting its use. Kunsmuller, a German 
chemist, was the first to discover the peculiar qualities of Absin- 
thin, which is from a Greek word meaning pleasurable, and 
which he obtained from our familiar plant 

WORMWOOD, 

or the Artemisia of the botanists ; this Absinthe is an intense bit¬ 
ter, which, modified by certain ingredients, is the basis of the mod¬ 
ern French drink of Absinthe, against the employment of which 
in any form or in any quantity the reader is plainly warned, as it 
destroys the intellect, the morals, and the body of the man. 

The leaves and flowers should be gathered in August and dried 
in the sun ; their medicinal properties are long preserved. As a 
medicine it may be used as other bitters ; it was so employed in 
fever and ague before quinine was discovered; a dose of the 
powder was from twenty to forty grains ; or an ounce of the 
leaves and flowers in a pint of boiling water, dose when cooled, 
one or two teaspoonfuls several times a day at meals. 

- C&J - 

ABSORBENTS 

“ Suck up” every particle of matter in the human body which is 
in a liquid form, and pass it forward to one point, to be emptied 
into the heart and mixed with the blood. 

There are two kinds of absorbents, Lacteals and Lymphatics. 
The 

LACTEALS 

are delicate little tubes connected with the alimentary canal. 
Their object is to take up the nutritious portion of the food as it 












































• » 























































































/ 



* 






























ABSORBENTS. 


139 


passes along the intestines; they constantly unite with one another, 
forming, as it were, larger branches or channels which become 
fewer and larger until they make one great branch or trunk, 
which passes up in front of the spine, and finally empties into a 
large vein which communicates directly with the heart. In this 
way all the nutritious portion of wliat we eat or drink is poured 
into the heart, where, meeting with the real blood of the body, 
it is instantly transformed into blood itself, to be made more 
perfect and pure, and to give more life when it enters the lungs. 

As the fine roots of a plant suck up from the earth the nutrient 
material, and the finer roots lead into larger ones, until through 
one large root the juice of the plant is conveyed into the stock or 
tree, so the little lacteal fibres piercing through the intestines 
suck up little particles of nourishment from the whole mass of 
food as it passes along, so that when it gets to the lower part of 
the body, the intestinal canal, the rectum, there is no more nutri¬ 
ment in it and it is ready to be voided forth as of no further use 
to the body. These finer roots of lacteals join into larger ones 
until, one large canal is made which empties itself into the heart, 
as named before. These lacteals take up particles which are not 
absolutely dissolved, as fats and oils. But there is another set of 
absorbents called 

LYMPHATICS, 

from their carrying a lymph or watery material from every por¬ 
tion of the human body, finally leading into one great duct or 
channel, which empties itself into the large vein as it enters the 
heart, like the lacteal system. This lymph or watery material 
consists mainly of all the waste matters of the system, matters 
which, having performed their part, subserved their uses, must be 
carried out of the system as the ashes are carried from a grate or 
stove or fireplace, otherwise there would be such an accumula¬ 
tion that no fire could be made. The human machine is like a 
clock which by long running wears away, and these worn-away 
particles miist be removed, the watch must be cleaned or it will 
not run; only Nature has this advantage over art: the human ma¬ 
chine is contrived with so much wisdom and beneficence, that it 
is made to clean itself, to carry out the waste particles as soon as 
they become waste and useless. This the lymphatics do to pei- 
fection, when in health, and thus keep the house we li\ e in ah\ a} s 


140 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


u swept and garnished.” In some parts of the body, near the sur¬ 
face, these lymphatics cross each other and form a kind of 
“ bunch; ” if by any means at this point the lymph which they 
are carrying is detained, is arrested, there is a kind of damming up, 
each little vessel becomes fuller and fuller, until the whole to¬ 
gether presents the appearance of a “lump,” more or less mova¬ 
ble, more or less hard ; sometimes a cold settles at one of these 
spots and causes a swelling, more likely to be in the groins, in the 
armpits, sides of the neck, and other places, and we call them 

WAX KERNELS. 

Sometimes these swellings are the result of inflammations, or bad 
feeding and other causes; many times they go away of them¬ 
selves ; at others, unless properly attended to, they inflame and 
break and cause running sores very difficult of cure. The first 
best step to be taken is to improve the 

* 

GENERAL HEALTH 

(which article see); if the swelling does not subside in a week 
paint the part with a soft brush dipped into a strong tincture of 
iodine every other day, and patiently continue it for weeks and 
months if necessary, making it a point, at the same time, to eat 
nourishing food, meat and bread and fruits mainly, being out in 
the open air several hours every day in steady labor or pleasura¬ 
ble exertive exercise, by all means keeping the feet abundantly 
warm, dressing warm, and securing one regular daily action of the 
bowels, full and free. The importance of taking all this trouble 
to get rid of a simple swelling, which often gives no pain or other 
discomfort, is seen by considering the fact, that the lymphatics 
are employed as the scavengers of the system, carrying out of the 
body all that is dead or useless, which if not thus carried out must 
remain in the body, the further to clog it up, to derange its 
working, and finally to stop the whole machinery, and the man- is 
dead. But a useful lesson of economy is taught us by the action 
of these same lymphatics : they do take up the waste matters of the 
system, but at these spots where the lymphatic vessels cross and 

inosculate with each other, making what is called a Hand_and 

here lymphatic glands, this waste material is worked over again, 


ABSORBENTS. 


141 


and there is extracted from it a substance called fibrin, fibre¬ 
making, and being conveyed into the blood it helps to make 
flesh, and thus aids in supplying the waste of the system, which 
under ordinary circumstances is computed to be sixty grains every 
hour. 

But these lymphatic vessels have another use, to convey water 
into the circulation; there is always water in the air we breathe, 
and this air comes in contact with the skin. If a man is very 
thirsty he will be appeased if he takes a bath. Sailors at sea in 
open boats have become drenched with rain, and the tormenting 
thirst has passed away. Narrations have been given to show that 
persons in an open boat at sea, wfithout a particle of fresh water 
to drink, have had their thirst relieved by having sea-water 
poured over their clothing, these little vessels seeming almost to 
have an instinct that water was needed, hence they take up the 
water, but not a particle of the salt which it contains. Should 
the reader be so unfortunate as to be perishing with thirst, he can 
make use of these facts to great practical advantage. These little 
vessels should take up water and oils and fats, and not salt and 
other solid substances, because it is not their nature. A similar 
exhibition of selection is seen in filling a vessel half full of oil, 
then with water, stir it up, dip a piece of wick in oil, immerse 
one end in the mixture and set the other on fire, after a while all 
the oil will have been passed along the wick and consumed, the 
water left behind. It is not the nature of a wick to pass water 
any more than it is the nature of a lymphatic vessel or. tube to 
pass some solid substances along it, and yet will pass others. 

Thus we see that the lacteals carry the nourishment which the 
food contains into the blood at the heart, while the lymphatics 
perform a similar office to the extent of utilizing the wastes of 
the system, so that 


“nothing be lost.” 

When the lymphatic glands are very liable to swell and to ulcer¬ 
ate, there is a scrofulous condition of the system, and all such 
persons should make it a point to keep up the general health ha¬ 
bitually, systematically, and thus prevent these glandular diseases, 
which, when they do break, should be treated as under the head of 

“ Abscesses.” 


112 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


ANGINA PECTORIS 

Means, literally, a kind of suffocation. There is a sudden and 
violent pain about the breastbone, extending towards the arms, 
indicating great and imminent danger; there is a cold-like 
sensation across the chest, great debility and alarm; it is a ner¬ 
vous affection, always, perhaps, depending on an organic disease 
of the heart, or the arteries leading to it, by which they become 
hardened, filled up with a kind of limy substance, as does the 
spout of a tea-kettle in limestone countries; the medical term is 
ossification. Gouty persons are most liable to it; it is almost pe¬ 
culiar to old men; women seldom have it. At first an attack 
goes off in a few minutes, hours, or days, with copious perspira¬ 
tion and urination, to be repeated with constantly shortening in¬ 
tervals until a fatal issue. At the same time persons subject to 
this affection have been known to live for many years. 

To relieve an attack apply a mustard plaster to the chest and 
between the shoulders; this draws the blood away from the heart 
and lungs, and thus gives relief ; at the same time put hot appli¬ 
cations to the feet, wrap the patient warm in bed, drink hot teas 
of any kind, take three or four teaspoons of Hoffman’s anodyne, 
or a teaspoonful of Warren’s cordial in some hot water, or one or 
two tablespoons of brandy in a little water, repeated every half 
hour if necessary. . 

The real nature of the disease is that the blood cannot get to 
the heart, because the channels of the arteries which lead to it 
are nearly closed, and that very little blood passes, while there is 
damming up of the blood at the point where the ossification com¬ 
mences. One point to be accomplished is to draw away some of 
that accumulated blood to the surface by keeping it warm, and 
by the irritation of a mustard plaster, aud then by the stimulants 
above-named to give more strength to the circulation for a short 
time, in order to force the blood through with a greater power 
and force and volume than Nature could do of herself; this gives 
the heart a little greater supply of blood, and the system gener¬ 
ally becomes composed. 

ANGINA ATTACKS PREVENTED. 

If a person is subject to these distressing attacks, inasmuch as 
there is no cure, the effect should be to live in such a way as to 


APHONIA. 


143 


prevent the attack coming on, simply by avoiding those things 
which are calculated to send the blood to the heart in greater 
quantities than is natural or usual, such as overstraining in any 
way, whether by heavy lifting, or running or other rapid exercise; 
or too protracted exertions of any kind; all violent emotions of the 
mind should be watched against, and in every way possible a calm, 
even, quiet mode of life should be cultivated, using all possible 
means to keep the general health in good condition, eating regu¬ 
larly of plain nutritious food, having a daily evacuation of the 
bowels and a free exposure to out-door air and sunshine. 

o • ——- 

ADDISON’S DISEASE, 

So called from a physician of that name in Guy’s Hospital, Lon¬ 
don, who in 1855 directed special attention to a malady known 
by the dark, dingy appearance of the skin, a kind of blood¬ 
lessness or want of natural nutrition, sooner or later always fatal. 
This bronzed appearance of the skin comes on very gradually, often- 
est in bulky fat persons beyond middle life, and seems to be con¬ 
nected with a diseased condition of the 

RENAL CAPSULES. 

In many cases these capsules contain a creamy yellow matter, 
sometimes of a grayish appearance, which increases to the extent 
of destroying the organs. 

Addison’s disease proves fatal in from two months to two years, 
ending in diarrhoea, convulsions, or apoplexy; beyond attention to 
the general health there is, as yet, no cure for this kidney disease. 

•-CtfO- 


APHONIA 

Is loss of voice* at least to the extent of not being able to speak 
above a whisper, and even then not without an effort, exhaustive 
and sometimes very painful; the first thing to be done in such 
cases is not to speak at all, in any strain, because the effort may 
snap the tender cords which form the voice, and thus lose that 
voice forever; even if this result does not follow, the effoit to 
speak tends to increase the inflammation which causes the diffi¬ 
culty, and only protracts the cure. 






144 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


The voice-making organs are at the top of the windpipe, two 
on each side, one above the other, the fraction of an inch apart; 
they are called vocal cords, being rather very thin membranes, 
which are made to vibrate by the air passing along, causing them 
to move; but if there is phlegm about them they will no more 
vibrate freely, will no more make a clear sound than would a fid¬ 
dle-string or harp if encased in glue or mucilage. The reader 
has many a time felt a little “hoarse,” the words would not come 
out clear and distinct, but by hemming or hacking up the phlegm 
in a forcible way he was able to speak with perfect distinctness. 

In a common cold as it is getting well there is coughed up a 
yellowish or white-of-egg-like matter which comes from the lungs 
in consequence of their inflammation (which word see); this in¬ 
flammation relieves itself by throwing off this matter until the 
health of the parts is restored, and the man is “well of his cold.” 
This same process goes on in the voice-organs ; they have been in¬ 
flamed, this inflammation forms this gluey, mucilaginous phtegin, 
plasters it all over the vocal cords, or plates, above and below. 
Sometimes the inflammation is so great, or the cords are so loaded 
with this phlegm, that there is no power to move them, and there 
is no room for. their vibration, no room for them to move an atom, 
or a line; in such cases there is complete voicelessness. 

The remedy in such cases is the same as in a cold or as in asth¬ 
ma : something must be done to loosen the phlegm, preparatory to 
its being hawked or hemmed or coughed from the throat. Warmth 
on the outside has a tendency to do this by its opening the pores 
of the skin over the throat and neck ; hence warm flannels are wrap¬ 
ped around the throat for “ hoarseness,” especially at night; more 
efficient in the night than in the daytime, because in the night ‘ 
the neck and head are more or less motionless, and the flannel is 
kept clofcC to tne skin, causing it to be continuously warm. In the 
daytime the head and neck are always in motion ; every time the 
head is turned to one side, or the chin is elevated, as in looking 
to the top of a tree or house, a space is made between the skin and 
the flannel, the cold air rushes in, chills the parts, closes the pores, 
and gives a new cold, aggravates the hoarseness. To be bene¬ 
fited b} muffling up the neck in any way, it must be done so as 
to keep the woollen flannel touching the skin all the time, other¬ 
wise harm is done and no good. 

The phlegm maybe diluted and loosened more speedily by flap- 


APHONIA. 


145 


ping np liot water against the throat continuously for ten or fifteen 
minutes at a time, then very cold water for half a minute; this 
causes “ reaction ” (which word see), making the blood flow to 
the skin with great rapidity, and in such abundance as to cause 
considerable redness of the skin. A mustard plaster does the same 
thing (see “ Derivation ”) by drawing the blood on the outside from 
the inside, thus cutting short the supply of material from which 
the phlegm is made; that is, phlegm is made out of the blood, and 
if you diminish the supply of blood in any way, there will be less 
phlegm made, less to be coughed away, making the cure more 
speedy. If moist warm air is breathed or drawn into the throat 
from the spout of a vessel filled with warm water, the phlegm is 
more or less loosened and diluted, as in asthma, bronchitis, and 
other affections of the air-passages. Nauseating remedies will do 
the same thing, as syrup of squills, wine of ipecac., and tincture of 
lobelia. - ■ 

Swallowing small pieces of ice, or gargling freely with cold wa¬ 
ter, by cooling off the inflammation, affords grateful relief in some 
cases. But it is always important, in all forms of this disease, to 
keep'the bowels acting freely once in every twenty-four hours, and 
eating regularly and in moderation. 

Sometimes there is a loss of voice from certain derangements of 
the womanly functions, called. . 

HYSTERICAL APHONIA, 

which often passes off in a few hours or days of itself ; sometimes 
it lasts for months, in consequence of a want of vigorous health; 
the only way to meet such cases efficiently is to use means to in¬ 
vigorate the body and the general constitution.. The best are, 
regular bowels, exercising largely out of doors, or steady work in 
the'open air for the greater part of daylight, until a good appetite 
and a vigorous digestion are secured, when the voice will return 
to its natural state. The above is voicelessness simply because 
there is functional derangement; all the machinery is there, but 
it is hampered, it is clogged, hence it does not work well; but 
there is 

ORGANIC APHONIA, 

• * 

where there is a cog missing or a wheel broken, and can never be 
repaired, because some ulcer has formed near or in the parts, and 

10 


1IG 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR 


has eaten them away ; or some permanent tumor has grown in the 
vicinity which prevents healthful action; these are to be determined 
by the personal inspection of an experienced physician. If there 
is actual ulceration the voice may never return, but the progress 
of that ulceration may be arrested by securing good “ general 
health” (which see), and by the application of the nitrate of silver 
in such a way that it shall touch the ulcerous spot; but as it is an 
exceedingly disagreeable operation, and the exact spot is often 
failed to be reached, and the healing would take place of itself 
by keeping up the general health, the application of the nitrate of 
silver is not advised, because it could not cure any case unless the 
general health were improved, and if that is done the ulceration 
would cease of itself, in all curable cases. The writer has seen no 
conclusive evidence that any throat ailment was ever permanently 
benefited by the application of the nitrate of silver alone. Some 
years ago almost every one was using it, now, almost no one, 
since the death of the introducer of it; this simple fact ought to- 
be an indication that it was not a valuable remedy in throat com¬ 
plaints. Electricity has sometimes been used for aphonia, and 
may be serviceable in hysterical or nervous cases, with this caution: 
if there is shortness of breath, or a shrill cough, electricity ought 
by no means to be used. 

DYSPIIONIA, 

'Or difficulty in speaking, as in the case of clergymen and other 
public speakers, is of the same nature as aphonia, only less 
'.troublesome and more easy of cure. Very generally it arises 
from a wrong condition of the stomach (see “Throat Ail”), but 
there is a caution which is imperative, neglect has many a time 
proved fatal: Never make a public address when it requires an 
effort to speak clearly- and distinctly; one may almost as well put 
a razor to his throat. In such cases there must be absolute rest of 
the vocal organs, in reading, singing, or public speaking, followed 
up by recreation in travel, change of air and scene and habits of 
life and modes of preparing food, with a proper attention to the 
regulation of all the bodily functions. In many cases loss of 
voice to the extent of not being able to speak, plainly or above a 
whisper, without considerable effort, becomes fatal within a few 
days; thus a public speaker is hoarse; he feels compelled to make 


AMAUROSIS. 


147 


an address; there is a large assemblage; lie becomes excited, 
makes more of an effort than he is conscious of. In doing so the 
voice-organs and lungs have been overstrained, overheated; he 
goes into the open air, raw, damp, cold, and windy; in addition, 
perhaps, he walks against the wind to his home, or has to ride sev¬ 
eral miles; he gets thoroughly chilled, pneumonia sets in, and he 
dies within a week. 

- COT) 

AMAUROSIS 

Is an obscuring of the eyesight in consecpience of some disease or 
injury done to the nerve of the eye, or of the brain near that 
point; it was formerly called gutta serena, from a misapprehen¬ 
sion of the nature of the malady; it comes on by a very gradual 
diminution of the sight, the eye seeming for a long time to have 
nothing the matter with it; floating objects appear with variations 
of color; a kind of spectra, without any real existence; the pu¬ 
pil sometimes dilates, and the eye is insensible to the light. All 
these symptoms may be the result of a disordered condition of the 
liver or stomach, indicated by headache, bad taste in the mouth 
of morning-s, not much relish for food : in such cases take three 
or four of Cook’s pills at bedtime, living lightly (page 105 
see); keep the bowels regular, exercise in the open air several 
hours every day, and keep the feet warm. If the symptoms do 
not improve in a week, if the spots or spectra do not disappear, 
and the sight does not become more • natural, the presumption is 
that the nerve of the eye or some of its connections is in a dis¬ 
eased condition; in such case, if an oculist cannot be had, or a 
physician of experience is not at hand, until one can be secured, 
in addition to what has been advised above, the eye should be 
rested, there should be no reading or writing or sewing or any 
occupation which requires close observation of small things, doing 
everything in the mean time to promote the general health and 
build up the constitution. 

Amaurosis is now used to imply defect of vision, and as this 
may arise from a great variety of causes—from nervousness, from 
uterine disturbances, from the striking in of any eruption on the 
skin, or the sudden stopping of any habitual discharge of any de¬ 
scription—the point first to be ascertained is, is there anything the 




148 


BALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


matter with the person hut a disturbance of the vision, if so, and 
that is corrected, the sight will be restored; but when there is no 
other derangement, when there is nothing in the eye to all appear¬ 
ance indicating a diseased condition, then it may be decided pos¬ 
itively that it is amaurosis, as a result of a diseased , or injured 
condition of the nerve of the eye, and that there is no remedy, 
except in such treatment as some eminent oculist may designate. 
The cause of such injury most generally acts directly, as a stroke, 
a concussion, a gunshot wound, or straining the eye too much, as 
in habitually reading while lying down, or reading a great deal 
while riding in vehicles, as such exercise of the sight is particular¬ 
ly straining to the eye, as it is so baffled in adjusting the angle of 
vision to every motion of the vehicle. 

Whenever persons discover a kind of hurting sensation behind 
the ball of the eye while reading or sewing or fixing the sight on 
any fine object, it is in many cases amaurosis in its forming stage, 
an amaurosis which affects the integrity of the structure of the 
eye and its nerves, and which, if allowed to go on, will prove 
certainly fatal, even before the eyesight is lost. Heading by artifi¬ 
cial light is most particularly injurious in this connection. 

Antiphlogistic is that kind of treatment of inflammatory diseases 
which is calculated to modify, to lessen, to dispel the inflamma¬ 
tion (which see). 

Antidotes, as applied to disease, are those medicines which meet 
or arrest or destroy the effects of other medicines on the system, 
especially applied to poisons.. Acids and alkalies are antidotes to 
each other; oils are antidotes of acids; strong coffee is an antidote 
of opium, whether in the form of laudanum, paregoric, or mor¬ 
phia. (See poisons.) 

Alteratives in medicine are those remedies which change the 
condition of the system. Everything swallowed, whether fluid or 
solid, whether medicine .or nourishment, is alterative ; but as 
specially applied to the treatment of disease it means the chang¬ 
ing of the character of the disease, so as to give a milder form of 
malady for a severer form ; a safer form for a more dangerous 
one. You have a pain in the chest, or a sensation of smothering; 
a mustard plaster is applied, which, by drawing the blood to the 
skin from the ailing part, affords most speedy and gratifying relief. 

In a past age salivation by calomel was the great favorite, uni¬ 
versal alterative; only get the mouth to water and the patient was 


ARNICA. 


149 


considered safe, because it drew the fluids from the suffering 
parts' and gave exit to them through the mouth. The human 
body in disease is like a full barrel, tap it where you please and 
there is an outward flow which diminishes the bulk by that much. 
All ordinary diseases are the result of too much blood or other 
material at some one point; make an outlet at any point, and the 
surplus at *ny other point flows off to that outlet, and relief is 
almost inevitable. As soon as a boil or ulcer breaks a man be¬ 
gins to get better in various ways, whatever may have been the 
matter with him. This is the philosophy, the operation of issues, 
of blisters, of setons, of emetics, of purgative medicines. There 
is scarcely a disease known not connected with loose bowels, 
which is not more or less modified or lessened or made better by 
anything taken which promotes the action of the bowels. 


- 050 - 

AEhICA 

Is the Arnica montana of botanists; its common name is Leop- 
ard’s-bane; the leaves, flowers, and root are used medicinally, ex¬ 
ternally and internally ; but as it irritates the stomach and bowels 
it is better employed as an external application in the effects of 
falls and bruises,, on the nerves, brain, and muscles. Dose of the 
powdered flour about ten grains ; powdered root, twenty grains ; 
the essential oil, from one to ten drops. 

Infusion, an ounce of the flowers or root soaked in a pint of 
water; dose, one tablespoonful every two or three hours. Often 
beneficial in headaches and nervous affections, especially those 
connected with the brain. Before taking the infusion as a medi¬ 
cine it should be strained through a linen rag, as there are little 
particles which would otherwise irritate the throat and cause 
troublesome coughing. 

Tincture of Arnica.is made by pouring alcohol or .spirits of any 
kind on two or three ounces of the root or flowers; but it is better 
to obtain it from a good druggist under the name of Tincture of 
arnica, and keep a pint bottle of it in the house, marked poison, 
as if # swallowed in that form it would produce instant and very 
dangerous effects; in such event swallow diluted vinegar or lemon 
juice, or suck lemons freely, until the effects subside. 




150 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR 


■ ARNICA WASH • 

or lotion is made by adding one part of the tincture of arnica to 
six parts of water, to be used in every variety of wounds, as often 
and as freely as the case requires ; when an eruption appears on 
the skin its use should be discontinued. If persons have a very 
irritable skin, or are subject to erysipelas, or are of an inflamma¬ 
tory constitution, or are excessively nervous, one part of arnica in 
twelve parts of water is strong enough ; or one part in thirty for 
children under ten. This same preparation maybe used to advan¬ 
tage as a gargle or wash for the gums, or the throat. 

But if the external application of arnica in any form is too irri¬ 
tative, the next best substitute is calendula officinalis; no doubt 
it is more mild in -its action, is very good to heal sores and 
ulcers which are sluggish, and often prevents the formation of 
scars after cuts or lacerated wounds, prepared with the same, 
strength as tincture of arnica. 

The preparations of arnica are used in amaurosis, typhus fever 
in its latter stages, hydrocephalus, and in various forms of paraly¬ 
sis. Dose of the tincture is thirty drops in water; of the extract 
from five to ten grains. It has been regarded as 


A PANACEA 

for all falls and blows, especially those causing concussion of the 
brain. That it acts specially on the brain and nerves is evident 
from the fact, that if taken in large doses it stimulates them very 
highly, even to the extent of difficult breathing, headache, con- 
■v ulsions and spasms of the limbs. As its effects are to stimulate 
the brain and nerves, and rouse them into action, it must be a 
valuable internal medicine,.when taken under the eye and by the 
direction of a skilful physician; without that, the reader would 
do well to employ it only as an external application. 

It is not well to be using remedies for every little ache and 
pain, otheivise the system soon begins to call for their employ¬ 
ment, and a day will not pass without resort to them in some 
form or other. But in cases where it is important to relieve a 
person of a variety of symptoms, the tincture of arnica is bene¬ 
ficial in two ways—it stimulates the skin, and to that extent acts 


ARNICA. 


151 


like a mustard plaster; it draws tlie blood to the surface, and 
relieves the deeper-seated trouble. Hence there is scarcely an 
ache or a pain which will not be more or less relieved by the 
arnica-wasli. But it is also beneficial from the fact that the 
alcohol in it, which is needed to extract its peculiar virtues,- is 
cleansing and cooling. In the first place, it removes all dirt or 
dust or oil from the surface of the skin; keeps the pores open, 
by which ill humors escape; and, in addition, by its volatile 
character (the more so the warmer the weather) its evaporating 
powers are very good; hence it carries the heat from an affected 
part with great rapidity, thus cooling off fevers and inflammations 
of a part, thus removing pain and soreness and other discomfort 
with remarkable promptness; hence the growing favor it has 
had among the people of late years, especially those who are 
friends to homoeopathy, who employ it freely as a wash or oint¬ 
ment in all forms of bruises, swellings, contusions, dropsies, chills, 
unnatural perspirations, shiverings, hot flushings, eruptions, 
humors, pimples, scabs, ulcers, itchings, tingling, etc. But the 
intelligent reader should always bear in mind that all these 
sensations are more or less transitory, and necessarily pass off in 
a few moments; if they do not it is because their origin is in a 
diseased condition of the whole system, and that instead of seek¬ 
ing temporary relief by mere expedients, the wiser course by far, 
and the only radical and permanent remedy, is the improvement 
of the “ general health” (which see) by means of plain and tem¬ 
perate living, spending a large portion of daylight in the open 
air, in such activities as enliven the mind and promote muscular 
exertion, thus waking up the circulation, working out of the body 
through the open pores of the skin these humors, these invisible 
particles which* being in the blood, poison it and keep the whole 
surface of the body, which the blood feeds and keeps alive, in a 
condition ready to take on diseased action from the slightest 
possible causes. 

After all that has been said of the various uses of arnica, the 
judicious reader will not only confine himself to its employment 
externally, but will limit himself to the application of it to sudden 
requirements, such as cuts, bruises, and blows, and effects resulting 
therefrom. 


152 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


. ARNICA 

is found growing in the mountainous parts of Europe and in some 
of the Western States of our own country. Water extracts its 
virtues, which are found in the whole plant, root, flower, and all. 
Arnica'stimulates the brain and nervous system. It acts as an ir¬ 
ritant to the stomach and bowels, often producing ail emetic and 
cathartic effect, and is supposed by some to be diuretic, diapho¬ 
retic, and emmenagogue. It is much used by German and Brit- . 
. ish physicians, who prescribe the flowers and roots with advantage 
in amaurosis, paralysis, and other nervous affections. It is very 
serviceable in that disordered condition of the system which suc¬ 
ceeds concussion, falls,, blows, etc. In bruises it is invaluable ; 
and it is gratifying to know that in this plant we have a remedy 
of singular efficacy, applicable in all cases, from the most trifling 
to the most severe. Experience demonstrates it to be unap- 
proaclied in power by any remedy, or combination of remedies 
whatever. Homoepathy has been honored as the introducer of 
this valuable plant; but this is a mistake, as it is an old popular 
remedy. To bruises, to allay the smarting of wounds after opera¬ 
tions; to fractures, dislocations, and other similar injuries, it may 
be applied with implicit confidence in its power, to the exclusion 
of fomentations, cooling lotions, etc., etc. The only objection 
against its use is that it sometimes- irritates the skin, but this pro¬ 
ceeds from its being employed in too great strength or quan¬ 
tity ; or it may be possible that there may be some peculiar 
idiosyncrasy which predisposes the skin of some persons to become 
irritated by it. It is an excellent remedy in bruises from blows, 
falls, and other accidents. 

-C CO - 

AO ETA 

Is the great canal or tube which carries the blood from the 
heart towards all parts of the body, and has three portions: first, 
the arch of the aorta, near the heart; then that branch of it 
which goes to the chest; and the third, which supplies the abdom¬ 
inal organs, or the belly.. ‘ The arch of the aorta, near the heart, 




AORTA. 


153 


is liable to be filled up with a stony substance, making the patient 
subject to attacks of 


ANGINA PECTORIS 

(which see); the other two divisions are most liable to aneurisms, 
called aneurism of the thoracic aorta, and aneurism of the ab¬ 
dominal aorta. 

ANEURISM 

is simply a dilatation of an artery, made by the blood being sent 
with such force to the part as to distend it, make it swell out, or 
stretch until a kind of bulb or bulging is made, which gradually 
increases, and with this increase the sides get thinner and thinner, 
and weaker and weaker, just as happens in stretching a piece of 
india-rubber, until at length the weakness is such that the mem¬ 
brane bursts, because the force of the blood, its pulsation, is just 
as strong now as when the sides of the artery were manifold 
stronger ; in such cases death follows in a few moments. Some¬ 
times the blood in the veins distend in the same way, as seen in 
the legs of many old people, called varicose veins; rupture there 
is not dangerous; on the contrary, it gives relief. It then be¬ 
comes a matter of life and death to know how to decide whether 
the bulging of a blood-vessel is in an artery or a vein : if in an 
artery, puncture is death; if in a vein, puncture is a relief. 
The difference is ascertained promptly, infallibly. If the en¬ 
largement or bulging is felt to throb or jmlsate, especially if 
there is a thrill with it, it is the aneurism of an artery ; if it has 
no more motion than a sac or bag of water, it is the enlargement 
of a vein. 

Nothing can be done in either of the three divisions of aortic 
aneurism named towards effecting a cure; taking care of the 
“ general health ” (which see) sometimes retards the progress of 
the malady, and renders it less active, less severe, and less painful 
and distressing. 

All aneurisms are 'benefited by limiting the amount of fluids 
drunk during twenty-four hours to a single half pint, as this ma¬ 
terially diminishes the amount and volume of blood to be pressed 
along the aneurismal artery. 


154 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


AIR, 

Or tlie atmosphere we breathe, is, in its .purity, composed of 
twenty-three parts of oxygen and seventy-seven parts of nitrogen, 
but it contains particles which do not naturally belong to it. In 
a damp day the air is so full of water or fog that a pint of it may 
not contain more than three-fourths of a pint of air, and as the 
atmosphere is the thing which acts directly on the blood in the 
lungs, to withdraw from it all the impurities which it contains, 
the purer the air is the more- capable is it of absorbing the impu¬ 
rities of the blood in the lungs. Hence the purer the air the 
purer the blood, and the purer the blood the better health is en¬ 
joyed in all climes and countries. The purest air is out of doors. 
There is no pure air within any four walls of a house. You may 
go into any room, even if it is entirely empty, and a musty or 
close smell will be immediately observed. Much more will there 
be impurities in the air of our dwellings in proportion to the de¬ 
caying or odorous things in it—as slops, food, fruits, flowers, and 
the like. That air is best for the health which has no perceptible 
“ smell 55 about it. The fragrance of the rose and the pink are 
delicious; but if a person were to sleep in a close room in which 
there were a great many pinks and roses he would be nearly dead 
next morning, because the nature of the flowers is such that they 
are throwing off a multitude of odorous particles every instant, 
and they being more material, more solid than the air, displace it, 
so that in every breath there is less air taken into the lungs and 
more of the substance of the flowers. 

A breath of air taken into the lungs may be represented by a 
piece of fine sponge, from which the water has just been squeezed 
out; put it into a vessel of dirty water; it will take up more of that 
than if it was half full of water before it was put in. So a breath 
of pure air taken into the lungs will take up more of the impuri¬ 
ties of the blood than it would have done if it had contained or 
absorbed a large amount of impurities before it went in. Hence 
the necessity of arranging' habitually to breathe the purest air 
possible. The easiest way to do this is to spend as much of our 
time in the ojDen air as practicable, and when we are indoors to 
make it a point to have fresh outdoor air coming into our houses . 
all the time; to have fire-place or door or window more or less 


HYGIENE. 


open all the- time, day and night, but in such a way as not to 
come in with a draught. 

Other information can be obtained in reference to the air and 
its connection with health by referring to the articles on Miasm, 
Malaria, Typhoid Fever, Fever and Ague, Ventilation, Respira¬ 
tion, and Lungs. 

-w- 

ATROPHY 

Means without nourishment; the person or part of the person 
wastes away. 

First, as a man would without food, or a flower without water. 

Second, want of exercise, as some of the devotees of the far east, 
who consider it a religious merit to hold out or hold up an arm or 
other limb; for want of exercise the blood is not driven into it, 
and it suffers and wastes away until it becomes little more than 
skin and bone. 

Third, if a tumor or other cause stops the blood in an artery 
leading to the brain, there is “ softening of the brain.” 

Fourth, if, from similar or other causes, the flow of nervous in¬ 
fluence is arrested and prevented from reaching a part, a limb for 
example, then there is paralysis, loss of motion in that part. 

--— 

HYGIENE, 

Pronounce hygeene, with two syllables, is from the name of 
Ilygieia, who was the daughter of Aesculapius. There were 
statues erected to her as the goddess of health. Iler father, 
according to the mythology of the Greeks, was the god of health; 
he was the son of Apollo, who was the model of manly beauty, 
the god of medicine, music, poetry, and eloquence ; he brought up 
his son to the study of medicine and to hunting. There was 
always a meaning in these old Greek legends, and the mind 
naturally connects hunting and its necessary activities in the open 
air, its exhilarations and its excitements, with health. Health with¬ 
out medicine, as if Apollo thought that if health could be main¬ 
tained and regained without the use of medicine, it was the per¬ 
fection of the healing art, and now, three thousand years later, the 
people think the same thing, and this is the idea connected with 






156 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR . 


the word hygiene; the maintenance of health and a recovery from 
disease by other means than medicine, such as by judicious attention 
to air and exercise, to dress, clothing, eating, sleeping, and the gen¬ 
eral habits of life (see each of these subjects treated under their 

respective heads). 

--- 

ACCIDENTS 

Mean, literally, falling to, or coming upon, by agencies beyond 
onr control. The ancients regarded them as coming from heaven, 
and the idea lias descended to modern times, and is expressed by 
the word providential. 

PROVIDENTIALLY HINDERED 

is a frequent phrase, but the accident which brings harm to a 
man’s body will be found on investigation to be the result of ig¬ 
norance, carelessness, or design on the part of the injured, or of 
some other person. It is called a railroad accident if a switch 
has been designedly misplaced; it is regarded as an accident if a 
person’s clothing takes lire from the bursting of a 

KEROSENE LAMP, 

when in reality it resulted in the ignorance or carelessness of the 
person handling it, in great part, but not altogether; the man 
who supplied the oil is in part a criminal for supplying a burning- 
fluid which is dangerous, and which if honestly prepared would 
not have taken fire. It v T as his business to have ascertained by 
his own testing that the oil was safe, which he could have done 
without expense or trouble in five minutes, thus: fill a cup half 
full of water, pour on it one or two tablespoons of oil, apply a 
burning match or piece of paper; if a good quality of oil it will 
not take fire, if spurious it will. 

In most accidents or casualties there are several things to be 
done at once, and in many cases these first things decide the issue 
of life and death. 

First. Nine times in ten brandy or wine or other forms of- 
stimulant are almost instinctively offered; if drink is asked for 
give cold water, if not asked for, wait. 

Second. If anything is likely to obstruct the breathing, as tight 




ACCIDENTS. 


157 


clothing or mud or other thing about the face and nose, remove 
it and place the person in a reclining position, if the brain or 
head is not injured on the back; and beyond two, or at most 
three persons, keep every one away at least ten feet distant, and, 
a great deal better, out of the room altogether, for the very sight 
of many persons present tends to excite and alarm and discom¬ 
pose by the expression of their countenances alone. In very many 
cases the injured person is more calm and self-possessed than any 
one present, and, for an additional reason, a crowd should.be kept 
at a distance to allow abundant-pure air to get to the sufferer. 

Third. Before moving the person notice if any limb is broken, 
or if there is much blood flowing ; if flowing in spirts or- jets, an 
artery has been severed, and there is no time to be lost in moving, 
for the person may bleed to death in a few moments. (See Bleed¬ 
ings.) If there is not much blood discharged, and it comes out 
slowly, removal can take place; but then it is generally better to 
promote the bleeding by the use of a sponge and warm water, for 
in most accidents moderate bleeding unloads the system and 
tends to prevent inflammation and erysipelas from setting in. 

Fourth. Do all that is possible to compose the patient, to give 
rest to the body, to each limb, and by all means to keep the cloth¬ 
ing dry, and the body and extremities warm; this is always of 
consequence, always of vital importance. In addition, keep out 
of the sufferer’s sight everything which might excite or discom¬ 
pose or discourage or alarm; remove everything bloody, every¬ 
thing soiled and torn. 

Fifth. The persons around the patient should exhibit a quiet, 
confident, composed, assured air, so as to inspire the same in the 
mind of the sufferer. 


Sixth. Avoid all sudden motions or starts or hurry; avoid 
noisy talking, especially all whispering, which is a pest to any 
chamber; do not allow the patient to observe you steadily gaz¬ 
ing at him, and ask him as few questions as possible; try and find 
out what is wanting without inquiry. 

Seventh. In all cases of injury by accidents send for the 
nearest physician without a moment’s delay; if one cannot be 
had send for a nurse; if none at hand send for the woman neai- 
est, who has had most experience in nursing the sick. 

Eighth. Until a physician or other help arrives, have two ba¬ 
sins of cold water and half a dozen soft rags; and wliere\er tlieie 


158 BALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 

is a wound or bruise or swelling apply tlie rags dipped in the 
water, sometimes dabbling them on the spot, at others laying them 
on the spot in four or five thicknesses, renewing every four or five 
minutes; the object being to cool the parts, to keep down fever and 
inflammation, and to stop excessive bleeding; for these purposes 
there is nothing better than cold water, proven by the experience of 
physicians and nurses of all ages and of all schools ; better than all 
the balsam and ointment ever made. Multitudes are impatient to 
apply something which has an ingredient which they suppose of 
special value; but rest assured that pure water is the best, for all 
that is wanting is to cool and cleanse. Bear it in mind, 

TO COOL AND TO CLEANSE 

sometimes warm water is better than cold ; it does not give such 
a shock, to begin with ; but whether warm or cold, be careful to 
prevent the water from dribbling about on the clothing or bed, 
both of which should be kept perfectly dry. 

If the person is in an insensible condition, apply camphor to the 
nostrils, and cloths dipped in hot water to the pit of the stomach; 
rub the limbs vigorously with the hands or hot dry towels ; bathe 
the temples and forehead in water and vinegar, half and half; a 
feather may be put up the nose ; or cold water may be dashed on 
the face. 

A very efficient means is to have boiling water at hand, kept in 
a boil all the time; dip into it a broad knife or spoon or anything 
having a broad, flat, metallic surface, then carry it at once to the 
sole of one foot for a second or two, then to the other sole, then 
to the pit of stomach, arms, calves, spine ; rapidly from one part 
to another, so as to feel at once for the place most susceptible of 
being waked up to life. In some cases the metal may remain 
two or three seconds, and having gone the rounds, dip into the 
boiling water again and go on again as before, in the hope of 
waking up to consciousness. If there is a burn of the skin it is 
over such a slight space that no harm can result, and a second 
application would be more efficient; even the broad face of a 
common hammer may answer the purpose. Mustard plasters, 
blisters, cauteries, answer the purpose, but hot water and a spoon 
or knife may be always at hand. Or a burning candle -may 
be held near the skin long enough to blister, or the actual 
cautery called 


ACCIDENTS. 


150 


iSIOXA 

may be applied thus: clip a piece of tinder, an inch across, into 
alcohol, set it on fire and hold it on the skin so as to make 
a blister. 


BLEEDING WOUNDS, 

or gashes: first wash the parts with cold water so as to remove all 
dirt or mud or foreign material, bits of clothes, hair, or anything 
else, and apply cold compresses; if the cut is slight and does 
not bleed much, dip a soft rag in cold water, lay it on the wound 
or cut, bind a silk, handkerchief over it, and let it remain for 
a few hours, then renew; or instead of removing the moistened 
rag it is better, if the wound is jagged, made by a ball or slug, 
or by the stroke of a blunt instrument, simply sprinkle cold 
water on the rag every few minutes, or as often as it begins 
to get a very little dry; the point is, keep the soft rag wet all 
the time without binding it on with a silk handkerchief; if the 
cut is on the side of the face, or other inconvenient spot 
for keeping the rag to it, a little ingenuity will meet the re¬ 
quirements. 

CUTS. 

Such wounds as make gashes should first be washed out, then 
as soon as possible bring the edges in contact, and devise means 
for keeping them together; keep a cold wet cloth on, and it will 
grow together; always keeping an eye to one main point, keep 
the bowels acting very freely every twenty-four hours, and live 
quietly, regularly, eating mainly coarse breads, mush, hominy, 
cracked wheat, fruits, berries, melons, and the like, not much 
meat, and even that at the-noon-day meal only. 

In all cuts or gashes let the part wounded be so adjusted as to 
do most in -keeping the sides of the wound together; if in the 
palm of the hand keep the hand closed; if on the back, keep the 
hand, extended ; if on the knee, keep the leg extended ; if under 
the knee or inside of elbow, keep leg or arm bent; if on the 
neck, bend it towards the wounded side; and in all cases keep up 
the bend, for if the wound is allowed to gape open in the least 


1G0 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


every now and then it cannot lieal. In all cases, if there is a pros¬ 
pect of getting a physician soon, an attendant should keep the 
edges of the wound pressed together with the fingers of either hand. 

In some wounds from a.sharp instrument, a well-adjusted stick¬ 
ing plaster aids to keep the sides of the wound in contact. 

In cases where the wound gaps wide open, and there is no pros¬ 
pect of a surgeon coming, it is not so fearful an operation as one 
might think, to take a fine needle, put a silk thread into it and 
sew up the wound with over stitches not too close to the edge of 
the skin, say an eighth of an inch, drawing the edges of the wound 
and skin slowly and closely together, aided by the pressure of the 
finders of the assistant on either side of the wound. After being 
sewed up, the cold, wet application should be kept on, so as to 
keep down fever and inflammation, with cooling drink and food 
and free bowels. 

In using adhesive plaster it should be cut into strips, and they 
should be placed at intervals of half an inch, so as to allow the 
escape of any blood or exudations. Sometimes it is necessary, in 
order to keep the parts of the wound close together, to make small 
rolls of linen as large as the finger, and place them each side of 
the wound, and wrap a compress around all, in such a way that 
the tendency of the pressure should be to keep the lips of the 
wound together. Having once adjusted it, it should not be dis¬ 
turbed ordinarily for about four days ; then remove the bandage 
carefully, gently, slowly ; the compresses or rollers often adhere, 
soak them in warm water until they fall off; in removing the 
plaster strips lift one end upwards very carefully, taking the pre¬ 
caution to press the wound with the fingers of the other hand to¬ 
gether, else, in raising the strip of adhesive plaster perpendicularly, 
it might stick, so as to tear the wound apart; after'the plaster 
strips have been removed sponge the parts gently with warm 
water, and when clean adjust new plasters with compress rollers, 
and bandage as before. If in any form of wounds the cold water 
cloths are not sufficient to keep down the inflammation apply 
leeches; being careful always to keep the bowels.free, as just 
stated, and also to use a light diet, with no stimulating drinks 
■whatever. 

CONCUSSION OF THE BRAIN 

may result from a violent shaking or fall or blow, or explosion 


ACCIDENTS. 


101 


of cannon or steam boiler, causing, if severe, a sudden loss of 
sense and motion, and death follows. 

If slight, there is dizziness, sickness of stomach, more or less con¬ 
fusion of ideas, with only momentary loss of sense and motion ; 
the breathing is affected ; the more laborious it is the more danger¬ 
ous the condition of the patient, especially if the feet are cold, the 
pulse weak and fitful; great restlessness, irritability of temper, 
shiverings and delirium. 

Apply tincture of arnica externally three or four times a day 
as a lotion, until the pain and swellings have disappeared. 

Keep the patient well covered in bed ; do all that is possible 
to restore warmth to the extremities, especially the feet ; take 
pieces of flannel, dip in very hot water, wring them out, pour on 
them some spirits of turpentine and apply; renew every ten min¬ 
utes ; make the same application, without the turpentine, to the 
chest; if these are not sufficient to restore warmth, use mustard plas¬ 
ters, and in proportion as the pulse rises and the extremities grow 
warmer, good is done. 

To prevent inflammation of the brain, which is to be greatly 
dreaded, administer an injection at once, so as to unload the lower 
bowels and give three or four antibilious pills, the object being by 
clearing the liver to promote the freer circulation of the blood 
through the body, and in this way prevent an excess of blood going 
to the brain through the arteries, for this is 


INFLAMMATION OF TnE EE AIN. 


At the same time additional safety will be found in taking a 
teacupful of blood ; if there is a tendency for the pulse to beat 
hard-(see pulse) and the skin to become hot, drink hot teas or hot 
water very freely, and use all other means to cause perspiration. 
The diet should be light (see diet), of coarse bread, fruits, potatoes, 
oranges, lemons and the like, sago root, arrow root, and barley-water. 

If inflammation of the brain is induced from any other cause, 
coming on suddenly or gradually, blood should not be taken un¬ 
less advised by a physician, but the head should be elevated, and 
the general treatment above advised should be followed out. If the 
inflammation is sudden, a safe and speedy method of relief is to 
place the patient upright in a chair and let the blood flow from the 
arm until about to faint, or if there is actual fainting no harm is 
11 


102 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


done. In addition, sliave the head and keep it cool by all means, 
by bags of pounded ice, or snow and salt, half and half. If these 
are not at hand, dip cloths, in a mixture of vinegar and -water or 
spirits and water, half and half, and lay them four or five folds 
thick on the head, and renew every five or ten minutes. If at the 
same time the feet up to the knees are immersed in hot water, kept 
hot by adding more hot water from time to time, or in a mustard 
bath, so much the better. 

If actual blood-letting is objectionable in any particular case, 
apply twenty-five or thirty leeches to the nape of the neck ; great 
good will be done if the system can be kept nauseated. Mean¬ 
while, with a view to keep the skin moist,—because a moist skin 
most effectually draws inflammation from the head,—one of the 
simplest and most efficient means of doing this is to give a few 
drops of tincture of ipecac in a teaspoon of spirits of nitre every 
hour or two, just as much of the ipecac as will sicken a little, but 
not gag or vomit. 

The antibilious pills should be given every third day, if the 
bowels are not free, or at least every fifth day, the bowels being 
kept in daily action in the interval with castor-oil. If there is 
not free urination, the water should be drawn three or four times 
a day by a catheter. 

As the patient improves, the diet should be gradually more 
liberal; avoid everything excitable, promote quiet and repose in 
every way possible, and if there is a tendency for the inflamma¬ 
tion to return, better make sure work and place a seton in the 
neck, or cause a running sore or open blister; the drink should 
be cold water, avoiding altogether the employment of spirits and 
strong teas of every description. 

TEMPERATURE OF CHAMBER. 

In all forms of accidents and hurtings the air of the sick-room 
should be pure; that is the first essential. A whole family living 
in a cabin with one room were taken ill in the winter time ; with 
the best medical care there seemed to be no adequate improvement, 
when one cold day, the family being poor, complained to the physi¬ 
cian of their misfortune in having a glass broken, and their inability 
to procure another; as his previous efforts to have them air their 
room had been unavailing, he suggested to them it would be better 


ACCIDENTS. 


163 


not to replace it for the present; from that day all the members 
began to improve and finally recovered. This shows the import¬ 
ance of a good ventilation, of a constant coming into a sick-room 
of the pure outdoor air to replace and drive up the chimney or 
out of some other opening the foul, poisonous air of the sick-bed. 

In addition, it is greatly better to be sick in a cool room and be 
made comfortably warm with extra bed-covering, if necessary, 
than to have a warm room and light covering; for warm air, while 
it is generally impure in proportion to its warmth, is less nutritious 
than cool air, does not purify the blood so effectually, nor give as 
much life to the body as cold air; hence the most favorable con¬ 
dition for the sick is to be able to breathe a cool air, and yet have the 
body comfortably warm by extra clothing. This good ventilation 
and pure air are most easily supplied by having the fire-place kept 
open all the time, as also a door or window. If no fire-place, let 
the window be let down from the top and hoisted at bottom, yet, so 
as to prevent a draught upon the patient. If the window cannot 
be let down at the top, or in case a current of air will cross 
the bed, saw a board, two, three, or more inches broad, and 
just as long as the window-sash is broad, hoist the lower sash, intro¬ 
duce the board, thus filling up the space made by the hoisting; 
this elevates the sash in such a way, that at its jdining with the 
upper sash an opening is made, b } 7 which the air is compelled to 
enter the room in a direction upwards, towards the ceiling, where 
it is warmed and makes its way towards the floor, thus airing the 
room without any draught whatever in the direction of the patient. 
The same convenient and safe arrangement may be made by any 
one who is compelled to sleep in a small room with no ventilation. 



If a person falls in a fit and begins to snore loudly, with very 
red face, it is apoplexy. Let him be seated so as to favor tne 



























164 


UAL VS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


blood going downward, away from the head ; apply cold cloths 
to the head, or cushions of ecpial quantities of snow or pounded 
ice and common salt. If the person is perfectly still, face pale, 
and no perceptible breathing, it is a fit of fainting. Place him 
on his back instantly. Do not touch him, except to loosen the 
clothing ; then keep off some five or ten feet distant, so as to allow 
the air to come in ; make no noise; and there will very soon be a 
calm, quiet return to consciousness and life, for it is only a mo¬ 
mentary cessation of the circulation of the blood to the head. 

If in a sitting position, it is harder to throw the blood upwards 
to the head, where it is nearer than on the horizontal line of lying 
down. 

But suppose there is a violent motion of the hands and feet, and 
all sorts of bodily contortions, it is epilepsy. Let the man contort 
until he is tired ; you can’t hold him still; all your efforts only 
tend to aggravate the trouble and to exhaust the strength ; all that 
ought to be done is to keep the unfortunate man from hurting 
himself. There is no felt suffering, for as soon as he comes to, he 
will tell you that he remembers nothing whatever of what has 
passed, appears to be the only calm and self-possessed person in 
the whole crowd, and is apparently as perfectly well as before 
the occurrence. Dizziness often comes instantaneously, and we 
begin to reel before we know it. Shut the eyes, whether you are 
walking down the street, looking over a precipice, ascending a lad¬ 
der, or climbing to a ship’s mast-head ; the fear or dizziness dis¬ 
appears instantly if you look upward. 


■C<50 


MYS TEDIOUS INFLUENCES. 

Persons sometimes feel remarkably well, the appetite is voracious, 
eating is a joy, digestion vigorous, sleep sound, with an alacrity 
of body and an exhilaration of spirits which altogether throw a 
charm over life which makes them pleased with everybody and 
everything. Next week, to-morrow, in an hour, a marvellous 
change comes over the spirit of their dream ; the sunshine has 
gone, clouds portend, and darkness covers the face of the great 




BRUISES. 


165 


deep, and the whole man, body and soul, wilts away like a flower 
without water in midsummer. 

If a bee has wandered far away from its hive on a beautiful 
June morning, every flower is unfolded, ready to yield all its 
treasures of sweetness; suddenly lie speeds away towards his 
home with an arrow’s swiftness, for a cloud has come between 
him and the sun, and forebodings come of ill; his little heart is 
just as full of hurried hasting for home, as but a moment before 
it was of hope to get its fill of honey. 

Both bee and man are affected by changes in the condition of 
the atmosphere; many fly before an east wind as a bee before a 
cloud, the electrical conditions of the atmosphere having been 
changed in both cases. 

When the weather is cool and clear and bracing, the atmos¬ 
phere is full of electricity; when it is sultry and moist, and 
without sunshine, it holds but a small amount of electricity, 
comparatively speaking, and we have to give up what little we 
have, moisture being a good conductor; thus in giving up, instead 
of receiving more, as -we would from the cool, pure air, the 
change is too great, and the whole man languishes. Many become 
uneasy under these circumstances ; “ they can’t account for it; ” 
they imagine that evil is impending, and resort at once to tonics 
and stimulants. The tonics only increase the appetite without 
imparting any additional power to work up the additional food, 
thus giving the system more work to do instead of less. Stim¬ 
ulants seem to give more strength; they wake up the circulation, 
but it is only temporarily, and unless a new supply is soon taken, 
the system runs further down than it would have done without 
the stimulant; hence it is in a worse condition than if none had 
been taken. The better course would be to rest, take nothing but 
cooling fruits and berries and lemons and some acid drink, when 
thirsty adding if desired some cold bread and butter; the very 
next morning will bring a welcome change. 

- <UTj -- 

BRUISES 

From blows, strikes, falling timbers, and the like, if slight, may 
be let alone; if severe, deep, or extensive, the swelling, blackness, 




166 


IIALL\S FAMILY D OCT OB. 


and blood are all favorable, because they show that the blood 
comes outward; while if it went inward, as to the brain, for ex¬ 
ample, death would ensue. 

As the result of a bruise, the blood sometimes comes up to the 
skin without coming out, spreads like a sheet, and blackens; this 
is called 

EFFUSION. 

Such wounds -affect the muscles, the flesh, make them sore, pain¬ 
ful, and weak, according to the severity of the injury. 

Sometimes, if there be but little life in the system, the parts 
die, mortification ensues, and there is a 

SLOUGHING, 

either to be thrown off by nature, detached from the healthy 
parts, or must be cut out by the surgeon. 

TREATMENT OF BRUISES. 

First prevent inflammation, by having soft rags, five or six 
thicknesses; lay them in ice-cold water, and spread over the 
bruise ; either remove every five minutes, to be replaced imme¬ 
diately by another always in readiness, or lay over the wet cloth 
a piece of oiled silk, extending over its edges about an inch, so 
as to keep in all the steam ; this causes a sweating, an evaporating 
process which carries off the extra heat rapidly, and this effec¬ 
tually prevents inflammation. If the.frequent cold lotions are 
used, the extremities of the blood-vessels are congealed, and the 
bleeding also is arrested; when these two conditions are secured, 
that is, the prevention of inflammation and the arrest of the bleed¬ 
ing, use warm poultices to keep up the evaporation and the 
coolness, and the parts will usually heal, if the bowels are kept 
acting freely every day, and the diet is cooling, that is, mainly of 
lean meat in small quantities, once a day, with coarse breads and 
fruits and lemons and melons. 

COLD-WATER STREAM. 

One of the very best remedies for bruises as well as sprains is 
to have a stream of cold water fall on the part until it almost 
aches with cold, then desist, and renew every third hour until 
the pain subsides; a pitcher or tea-kettle or old coffee-pot can 


LOCK-JAW. 


167 


be used, but this requires the time of another person, which can 
be obviated by having a barrel of water higher than the head 
and attach to it an india-rubber tube, which can be stopped with 
a cork, or if there are water pipes in the house, have a tube large 
enough to go over the end of the faucet. Bruises are cured and 
the blood and other parts are absorbed by the application of a 
bandage, but this requires skill, hence it would be better to use 
the cold water in one of the ways named ; or employ washes or 
bathings of 

TINCTURE OF ARNICA. 

Apply it every hour or two, or keep a rag or lint, saturated, 
kept wet by it on the part until the symptoms have abated, and 
there is a feeling of quiet and comfort. 

The concentrated tincture of rhus ton may be employed to 
advantage when joints, tendons, and synovial membranes are in¬ 
jured ; but in all cases keep the bowels freely acting every day; 
this is indispensable always. 

Very painful wounds and bruises are often promptly relieved 
by taking a shovel of burning coals,—of wood is better, sprinkle 
common brown sugar on the coals, and hold the wounded part in 
the smoke ; in case of splinters or rusty rails piercing the flesh 
and causing pain, fever, and irritation, the discomfort is some¬ 
times removed in fifteen minutes. Other 

WOUNDS AND BRUISES 

may be treated successfully in the same way. 

Another method of allaying inflammation and modifying the 
ill effects of metal's piercing the flesh, and thus preventing 

LOCK-JAW, 

mortification, and the necessity of amputation, is to unravel a 
piece of flannel or woollen stocking, or take common woollen yarn 
or much worn woollen fabrics, saturate them with sweet oil, hog’s 
lard, or melted butter. Put them in a kettle, set them on fire so 
they shall smoke, without blazing; hold the wound over the 
smoke, and cover the wounded part with a blanket so as to con¬ 
dense the smoke about the wound, doing all in such a way as 
not to smoke the sufferer or strangle him to death. 

Another method, successfully adopted for many years, was 


168 


IIALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


holding the wounded or bruised part over the smoke made of old 
shoes or any bits of leather made to burn without blazing, sat¬ 
urating the parts with the smoke; all these methods prevent the 
mortification of the living part, just as the old-faslnoned smoke¬ 
houses of half a century ago prevented the hams, and sides, or 
middlings of pork from decaying. In all these cases we have the 
one thing, the condensed smoke as the curative agent, known in 
later years as 

CREOSOTE, 

which is really the essence of smoke or soot. Common tar is 
made by setting some kinds of wood on fire,-covering it over with 
dust, so as to prevent it from burning, leaving the red solid wood 
in the shape of charcoal, while the other part, the tar, flows out, 
is gathered, and preserved for various uses. When this tar is dis¬ 
tilled it yields creosote. 

i 

CARBOLIC ACID 

is the tar of coal oil, which is found in that portion of coal tar 
which distils over under a heat of three or four hundred degrees; 
it is a colorless liquid, of an oily look, of a burning taste, and has 
something of the smell of soot; hence creosote and carbolic acid 
are of the same nature in some of their qualities, and in their ef¬ 
fects on wounds resemble the details given of the smoke arising 
from burning leather, rags, etc. But in many places of accidents 
and burns, as on steamboats and railways, and in the interior of 
the country, where neither of them could be possibly obtained, 
some old woolen rags, or old shoes, could be got together, and the 
smoke of them concentrated on wounds, bruises, cuts, crushes, 
and burns, and be of inestimate value, all having the one effect of 

COAGULATION. 

By coagulating the blood it arrests bleeding; it also constrin- 
ges the extreme ends of the smallest blood-vessels, and thus also 
arrests the flow of the vital liquid and heals every variety of 
wounds and hurts. 

In addition, it prevents putrefaction; it averts mortification 
as well as prevents it; in addition, it takes away all ill odors, and 
keeps the parts in a cleanly, healthy condition. 


BRUISES. 


ICO 


One part of carbolic acid with forty parts of hot water, shaken 
well, and then strained or filtered, is an excellent wash for all 
sores, ulcers, bruises, and the like. 

A horse was about dying of a festered wound; some old shoes 
were cut up in a hog trough, the pieces were set on fire under 
the swollen wound of the horse; in a few hours the swelling be¬ 
gan to subside, and to discharge yellow matter, and the horse was 
saved. Another horse had been gored by a bull in the abdomen ; 
nothing seemed to be of any avail; the smoke of leather was ad¬ 
vised, and the horse got well. 

A man’s foot was cut with an axe, and while bleeding badly a 
lady seized hold of it, held it over the smoke of burning tag-locks, 
or scraps of leather; in a few moments the bleeding stopped, the 
wound never maturated, nor was there any pain, and it got well 
rapidly. The smoke which contains creosote or carbolic acid co¬ 
agulates the albumen, and thus prevents putrefaction; it coagu¬ 
lates very rapidly, and thus arrests bleeding; hence smoke 
has a valuable healing power when applied to ulcers, sores, and 
man’s skin diseases; but as carbolic acid contains the curative 
element in the smoke, or rather is itself the curative principle, 
every family would do well to have it always on hand. To fur¬ 
ther impress this on the mind of the reader, it is proper to state 
that a patent has been taken out in Paris for a new agent to stop 
bleeding, etc., in wounds. The French government has for many 
years been far in advance of all civilized nations in purchasing 
valuable secrets from persons who have discovered them, and 
then making them public to all the world. This new agent is 
made thus: take common 


PETROLEUM, 

And stir into it, cold, one-sixth of its weight of caustic soda; let it 
stand twelve hours; it will then be found to have separated into 
two layers; the lower one is 

PIIENATE OF SODA. 

Pun it off and keep in a glass bottle for use ; if a cut, dip several 
folds of linen or muslin into it, and lay it on the cut; press it on 
the wound, and then with a rag apply more phenate on the com¬ 
press ; it causes no pain or irritation; then apply a second coup 


170 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


press; wash it also with a rag dipped in the phenate; keep on 
applying a new compress saturated with the phenate until the 
bleeding stops; these compresses are applied one over the other, 
until the blood coagulates. 

If a wound is made by a bullet, or sharp knife, or other in¬ 
strument, inject the phenate into it several times, then saturate 
lint with the phenate, and fill the place with it. The operation of 
this valuable remedy is 

GOOD. 

It coagulates the blood. It renders the edges of the wound in- 
sensible. It causes the sides of the wound to contract by its con¬ 
stringent power. It contracts also the minute blood-vessels, caus¬ 
ing them to send forward what blood they have, thus removing 
the congestion, and by diminishing their calibres on the same 
principle, prevents too much blood from coming into them and 
through them, to cause inflammation. 

ALOES AND ALCOHOL. 

Take one part of socotrine aloes and two parts of alcohol, dip 
into this a soft rag, or lint, and lay it on any sore, such as bed 
sores, ulceration from burns, or other causes ; it often heals with¬ 
out causing any scars. This preparation should be always kept 
in the house. Aloes is a common drug, a vegetable product, and 
is used largely in purgative preparations, so that there is no dan¬ 
ger whatever in its employment externally. 


coo 


THE MONTH MALIGN, 

September, sheds its malignant rays over humanity, infusing the 
poison of hateful disease and sudden death on half the globe, es¬ 
pecially in our latitudes, those of the United States, because 
mainly the weather has been hot for weeks, evaporating winter 
streams and fresh-water ponds, leaving exposed to the sun’s rays 
their soft, wet, slimy bottoms, generating miasmatic influences, 
disease engendering emanations which enter into the circulation 




THE MONTE MALIGN. 


171 


through the stomach and lungs, poison the blood, thickening it, 
making it congest in the small terminal vessels, laying the foun¬ 
dation at once of diarrhoea, dysentery, and every class of fevers, 
from the comparatively undangerous ague to the malignant bil¬ 
ious, typhoid, and yellow jack. 

One-half of all these diseases could he prevented at one 
swoop by cleanliness and scientific draining. Look at New Or¬ 
leans, during the Federal occupation of the war. One party 
seemed to think that the merciful One had forsaken them, the 
other that they were the special favorites of heaven; both were 
equally wide of the mark; it simply was the secret of one intelli¬ 
gent mind, compelling clean streets, and what was equivalent to a 
constant drain. 

Many a farm, with as rich a soil as the Delta of Egypt, cannot 
be sold at ten dollars an acre, because it is 

A SICKLY HOLE, 

fever and ague reigns rampant; with a proper draining it 
would be worth a hundred dollars an acre, the very first crop pay¬ 
ing the expense of drainage. 

But it is too late to talk of draining, when whole families are 
shaking with ague, others growing as yellow as pumpkins, others 
again sinking under typhoid. 

All the ailments named are bilious ailments, are the result 
of an inactive liver; there is so much blood dammed up in it, 
that it has no room to work, to free itself, no more than a man 
can use his elbows for deliverance when urged onwards to the 
door of a building on fire, by the affrighted crowd around him. 
The physician understands what remedies are needed under the 
circumstances. The allopath is enthusiastic on his calomel; the 
water cures slosh away with might and main, inside and out, top 
and bottom, with a free through ticket thrown in, while the in¬ 
finitesimal admirer gives a mite a month, throwing the whole re¬ 
sponsibilities of the case upon the broad shoulders of his 

OLD STAND-BY, 

Doctor Nature, and in many cases that same old Doctor dont 
always come out second best; he has a way of his own and wad 
dies Ions:, as in the celebrated race between Messrs. Tui tie and 


172 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


Hare, a long time ago, in such a way as to come out half-a-neck 
ahead, colors flying. 

It is very true that a pour bath of ice water, or even water just 
from the spring, will break up the chill, and cure the disease in 
many cases, but the remedy is little less than terrible ; few would 
submit to a second operation, and some have died in its progress. 
That mercury is the most infallible agency known to man is an 
accepted fact; but many have a prejudice against its use ; mean¬ 
while we will leave it to the tincture of time, and the little 
pellets to cure all who are suffering now, it being a main province 
of this book to prevent these diseases. 

Places, neighborhoods, now under the bane of miasmatic ema¬ 
nations, should be drained before another season, ploughed over 
and put under cultivation, or filled up, after a winter and half 
summer exposure. 

But a few practical facts in reference to the nature of miasm 
and its laws are worthy of repetition, until the people can be 
made to apprehend them and act intelligently in reference to 
them. 

Miasm, the one great cause of prevalent epidemics, from the 
simplest fever or diarrhoea to malignant Asiatic cholera, is most 
pernicious, almost exclusively so for the hour including sunrise 
and sunset, there being a dampness, rawness, and heaviness in the 
atmosphere at such times, not found at mid-day or midnight, lead¬ 
ing to the practice of intelligent families, where these autumnal 
diseases prevail, to have a blazing fire on the hearth at sunrise and 
sunset, in the family room where the family should be gathered, 
of course; the cheery fire* antagonizes the influences named, 
changes the physical condition and constitution of the atmosphere. 
But there is an additional precaution, and both together have 
amounted to a total exemption from the diseases in whole 
families, simply by arranging to take breakfast before going out¬ 
side the door in the morning, and getting back into the house a 
little before sundown, and sit down to a hot supper as soon as reach¬ 
ing home, at least something hot enough to wake up the circula¬ 
tion of the body, and thus repel the influences of disease until 
the digestion of the sufferer commences'to impart nutriment and 
strength to the system. It is peculiarly appropriate in the morn¬ 
ing, where fever and ague and similar diseases prevail, to take 
something hot into the stomach, a cup of coffee or tea, or choco- 


THE WARNING KNOCK. 


173 


late or broma; these are best, especially if a bit of cracker or 
bread is added. In many cases, one or two oranges or apples, or 
dry cracker or lemon are sufficient, because they excite the secre¬ 
tion of the stomach, warm it up, wake it into action, and thus 
prevent the absorption of poisonous gases, giving in their stead 
healthful nutriment to the blood, and not the baleful miasm. 


zcrj' 


THE WARNING KNOCK. 

Not long ago a lady guest came down to the breakfast table, 
and in the course of conversation remarked in a very casual 
manner,— 

“ I was knocked up over early this morning.” 

“ How’s that ? ” 

“ I waked about daylight, and was thinking over the plans of 
the day, when such a crashing noise was heard at the head-board 
of the bed, I thought it was a pistol-sllot; in one instant I was 
erect in bed, the next on the floor; but there was nothing there.” 

u Why, Miss Kate, you don’t think it was a warning for you ? ” 

“ Oh no, indeed; but something’s going to happen.” 

And something did happen ; for that very night the sun set 
over the Jersey land-flats one minute later than it did the day be¬ 
fore, and what’s more, the moon did not make its appearance at 
the same moment next day. 

In a few days after, the excellent lady sickened; and after a 
brief interval further, I stood by her grave in Greenwood, under 
the exceedingly impressive offices of the Rev. Mr. Haight. 

The intelligent reader will see in this a mere coincidence. 
Cracks and noises in wooden furniture are a frequent result from 
incessant shrinkage and expansion ; it is this which often makes 
the thunder of the avalanche, the iceberg, and the lava slide; 
bureaus, bedsteads, and tables are liable to these changing con¬ 
ditions from heat to cold, from dryness to moisture, and the reverse. 
Such occurrences have a very depressing influence on some minds, 
and in feeble conditions of the body may be the pivot of life or 
death, of recovery or the grave ; and it is well that the reader 
should have a rational yiew of such tilings while in health, espe- 




174 


nALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


cially as the weakening influence of disease impairs the reasoning 
powers. 


* 


C/72 


TIIE BBAIN-WORKER’S DOOM. 

"Whenever a thinker, or student, or scholar, gets into that con¬ 
dition when he feels very tired-all over, at the close of the day, 
especially tired in the legs from the knees downwards, he ought 
to take heed of kindly Nature’s warning; the brain is giving out; 
not that he is going crazy, but he is getting into that nervous con¬ 
dition which makes instant abandonment of all mental applica¬ 
tion most imperatively necessary; without such prompt action, 
the whole machinery of the nervous system may become disorder¬ 
ed, and months and } T ears may not suffice to repair the damage; 
it means that the nervous energy is so nearly exhausted that there 
is not vitality to send it to the extremities; these energies have got 
such a set toward the brain that their consumption is in that 
direction ; the magnet is there, drawing all into itself. It is just 
at this point that the 

MOVEMENT CURE 

is most rational, most applicable, and most efficient, physical mo¬ 
tion of the limbs, and little or no action of the brain, so as to 
change the current of nervous flow and set it in another direction 
to parts which most need it, and thus re-establish the equilibrium. 
It is wonderful to note the change which a single day’s* excursion 
to the country will make, especially if several hours are spent in 
walking, or on horseback. But if a man has been suffering.with 
weak legs for months he cannot expect so prompt a change in 
his feelings. 

If overworked, over-anxious wives have these feelings from the 
responsibilities of household cares, the generous husband will take 
them to the country right away, or if in the country already, will 
bring them to the city, that seeing its sights and walking its 
streets, the ruts of the nervous currents may be changed and the 
necessary repairs made, before sleepless nights come on, or the 
lightning stroke of the palsy, or the sundering of the heart-strings 
close the history. 




HASTE HURTFUL . 


175 


When persons feel this weakness and tiredness in the legs, 
inclining them to lie down all the time, if it is because there has 
been too much thinking or care or study, this tiredness will dis¬ 
appear if several hours are spent in out-door activities, because 
these compel the nervous influence in the direction of the limbs, 
while the brain is in a state of comparative rest, and will soon, by 
that very rest, be renovated. 


--- 

HASTE HURTFUL. 

A man of wealth was about stepping into the cars on his after¬ 
noon return to his country-seat; the car was passing before him ; 
he made an effort to jump on to the step leading to the front 
platform, missed his footing, fell under the wheel, and was 
crushed in a moment. Ilad he waited sixty seconds he could as 
easily have made the attempt to jump on the rear platform, and 
missing his hold there, lie would have had a fall and nothing 
more, for there would have been no wheels to run over him. 

Very recently a distinguished professor in a -Virginia Uni¬ 
versity wanted to deposit a letter in the post-office on the other 
side of the railroad track. A locomotive was approaching; he 
thought he could cross before the ponderous engine could come 
along. lie miscalculated the speed. In another moment he was 
a shapeless mass. Ilad he waited two minutes, half a minute, 
the train would have passed along, and he could have leisurely 
deposited his letter. 

A young lady wished to show her friends how easily she could 
cross in front of a locomotive; she did cross, but her streaming 
dress caught in the passing wheel, drawing her back under its 
crushing weight. 

One afternoon about sundown a young wife was looking out 
of the window of her beautiful country home for the return of 
her young husband from the city. For the six months just past 
of their married life they had been busily fixing up their country 
place ; both were young, both.healthy ; the husband was in busi¬ 
ness on his own account, with every prospect of increasing suc¬ 
cess. She saw him get out of the cars, and passed down-stairs to 




170 


BALLS FAMILY DOCTOR 


greet him at the door; but when she reached it, he was not 
there ; she thought he was playing her a little trick; she called 
for him playfully, affectionately, but there was no answer; she 
saw a crowd of men approach the gate, open it, come up the path 
with her dead husband. lie did alight from the cars, and safely 
stepped on the platform of the station house. There was a train 
coming in an opposite direction; he thought he had plenty of 
time to cross in front of it, and did cross, except by one single 
inch; the wheel struck the heel of his boot, wheeled him round 
under the cars, and all was over; one minute longer, and he 
could have crossed with the locomotive behind him. 

Limbs are broken, lives are lost every year, in any large city, 
by attempting to cross in front of a moving horse or vehicle; an 
infatuation seems to come across many under such circumstances, 
as if they were willing to risk limb and life itself to save one 
single sixty seconds. The next day was 

“ CHRISTMAS.” 

A happy family of wife and five or six children, in Brooklyn, 
were looking for their father to come over from his business 
place in Hew York, to arrange for that mysterious visitor called 
Santa Claus and Ehris Ivringle. It was just dark ; he was some¬ 
what later than usual, but surely the next boat would bring him 
over ; there it was at the wharf, for they could see it through the 
window, not a quarter of a mile away. Fast footsteps pattered 
along, on the pavement, coming nearer, coming opposite, passing . 
along, and died in the distance; other footsteps approached, 
passed on, fewer and fewer all the time ; and at length there was 
silence; father had not come, so they thought; but they were 
mistaken ; he did cross in that boat, loaded with the most beau¬ 
tiful assortment of toys and sweetmeats, something even for the 
baby, just nine months old. In his hurry to meet the happy 
faces which he well knew were peering through the darkness at 
the window pane, he made an effort to step from the boat before . 
she touched the platform ; the distance was greater than he sup¬ 
posed ; he fell half through into the water, his body caught be¬ 
tween the timbers, and life was gone. Fifteen seconds more and 
he could have stepped on solid ground. To save a minute, a life 
was lost; just as in another direction we waste time and lose 


HERNIA OR RUPTURES. 


-i ,^r by 

177 


eternity ; we spend our whole existence here, we hurry on in our 
own business for the accumulation of money, giving no thought 
of preparation for the great future which so nearly concerns us 
all, and in a moment to pass away, without any preparation 
whatever. 


-c crz- 


IIERUIA, OR RUPTURES. 

Sometimes persons are born with them, at others they are in¬ 
duced by over-straining in lifting, or jumping down from a height 
and lighting on the heels. Ruptures occur generally at the lower 
part of the belly, where its walls are thin, an opening having been 
left for certain blood and other vessels to pass out, so that if there 
is any undue strain, that being the weakest spot, the parts give way 
by the whole mass of the bowels pressing downwards and forwards. 
After protrusion the muscles at the part sometimes spasmodically 
contract, and in a sense choke the rupture or hernia, so called 
from a Greek word meaning a branch, as it protrudes or branches 
off from the belly; this choked rupture is called strangulated 
hernia, and requires instant relief, as it stops all passage of the 
bowel contents and causes mortification and death; the opening 
must be enlarged by cutting it, so as to allow more room for the 
return of the bowel. As soon as a rupture is noticed, place the 
patient on his back, raising up the head and shoulders, bending 
the head forwards, and drawing the knees up, so as to relax the 
abdomen; then raise the clothing, return the protruded bowels 
with the balls of the fingers, for the nails may cut them, gently 
and adroitly pressing inwards and upwards; it may be known 
that it is in place by a peculiar gurgling sound on the instant of 
return within the walls of the belly; then a pressure should be 
made over the spot where the protrusion took place, to prevent its 
recurrence, this pressure should be made with a pad to which is 
attached an elastic spring, so as to have more or less give in it, in 
coughing, straining, lifting, or other motions ; such a contrivance 
is called a 

TRUSS, 

which adapts itself to all the motions of the body ; these trusses 
have generally to be worn for life. The rupture is told by the 
" 12 




ITS 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


protrusion, sometimes tense, at others lank ; the skin is not colored, 
but seems altogether natural; the swelling varies in size and 
tension according to the position of the body, smallest when 
lying down, largest if standing ; coughing changes it very much ;• 
sometimes there is colic, constipation, or nausea and vomiting. 

If, before the bowel is returned, there should be a spasmodic 
contraction of the muscles of the parts so as to act upon the pro¬ 
truded bowel like the drawing of a purse-string, it is called a 

STRANGULATED HERNIA, 

and as this prevents the passing along of the contents of the 
bowels, mortification and death will soon take place unless this 
spasmodic contraction is overcome by immediately placing the 
patient in warm water, which has a relaxing effect; if not suffi¬ 
cient, bleed the patient while in the bath until he faints or is 
about to do so. This relaxes the whole body, and the parts can 
be returned; still, it is always advisable to send for a physician 
promptly on the appearance of a rupture, especially if strangu¬ 
lated ; the advice above given is to be followed when a doctor 
cannot be had; it is what a doctor w juld follow if he were 
present, and if he can’t be got, some one must do it in his place. 
It requires a great deal of patience to push back the rupture; even 
if it takes half an hour, patience should not be lost, for it is 
often of critical importance. 

Great eare should be taken not to injure the intestines with the 
end of the finger-nails, hence some surgeons cover the hands with 
a thin cloth or glove. The pressure should be gentle, steady, 
firm, upwards and inwards. If the warm bath or bleeding does 
not relax the parts, some have dashed a bowl of cold water 
against the spot, as a last resort; it is a dangerous and desperate 
remedy, but has been effective. 


-- 

LITERARY HUSBANDS 

Are certainly as capable of loving their wives as sincerely as other 
men love theirs; but so much of the nervous energy goes to the 
brain, that the heart is too often left to wither away; too much of 
that energy is expended on the intellectual faculties, too little on 
the emotional; it is an avoidable calamity. 




THE ABDOMEN. 


170 


THE ABDOMEN. 


This plate represents the appearance from the navel down to the 
crotch, if the clothing, skin, and flesh were removed. 



EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE. 

A, the aorta which carries the blood from the heart down¬ 
wards, branching towards the bottom of the body to carry life and 







180 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


strength and health to each limb. By the side of the aorta is V, 
the vena cava, or great vein of the body, through which all the 
blood is brought from the lower extremities up into the heart again, 
to be sent on to the lungs, to be purified by the fresh air drawn into 
them and to be forwarded in its renovated state as before through 
the aorta. It will be seen that they both lie by the side of the 
backbone, or spinal column. Under the letters L and L, and in 
front of P P, was the stomach which is removed. One person eats 
a pound or two or more at a meal, including drink; the weight 
would be four or five pounds or more sometimes. It is easy to 
see that if, soon after eating, a person lies on the back, the whole 
weight of the stomach and its contents rests or presses on the 
great artery and vein, and their thin soft sides being yielding, the 
flow of blood would be stopped in the aorta, preventing the life¬ 
blood from going to the lower portion of the body, and would also 
prevent the blood from going towards the heart, hence there would 
be a double cause of stagnation, and stagnation of blood in the 
body means death ; it is death in an instant, if in the brain; 
sleepless Nature takes alarm, fills the whole body with uneasiness, 
terrible dreams come to the disordered brain, an impending cala¬ 
mity is just upon us, a mad dog is at our heels, a lion is just about 
to spring at us, we are just upon the verge of an awful chasm, 
the man whom we promised to pay borrowed money is just coming 
across the street. Then comes the dreadful shriek. It is the 

NIGHTMARE. 

We lay down on our backs too soon after eating a hearty meal. 
The spasmodic jump, a single touch of some friendly finger at our 
side, sends the dammed-up blood bounding away again, and the wild 
cat is gone; we didn t owe the man anything, and we are saved, 
except that we are in a tremble or dripping perspiration. 

But in that terrible struggle we feel that death is inevitable, and 
we roll over the precipice in utter horror and helplessness, but 
“ catch ourselves ” at the very last second. Some, however, do not 
catch themselves; they are dead in their beds next mornino*. 
“Died in a fit,” some say; others, “ of heart-disease,” and others still 
of apoplexy. So the reader can see how near he lias been to death 
more than once. The first time a youth touches the cheek of his 
sweetheart with the tip end of his finger a kind of an electric 


NIGHTMARE. 


181 


shock runs through his whole system, and the other one’s too, 
wholly disproportioned to the force of the contact; so in night¬ 
mare, the gentlest shake of the arm, the slightest 

POKE IN THE RIBS 

sets the whole blood of the body in motion again, when the sharp¬ 
est sound of the voice would have failed to do so. Hence the 
very instant you hear the dreadful moan of a nightmared person, 
and certainly it is dreadful to hear, touch him instantaneously, 
don’t wait to speak to him, he can’t hear you; better to give 
him a 

QUICK KICK 

outright, for every second is a second of agony, until the blood 
is set in motion. Surely no reader can ever forget the nature, 
cause, and remedy of the terrible nightmare, and it is hoped that 
ever hereafter, if he hears the sound, even although it may be 
in a distant part of the house, he will feel promj3ted in pity 
to run with all his might, to touch, or shake, or kick the suf¬ 
ferer at the earliest possible second; for a second later and he 
may be dead. 

B indicates the position of the bladder. It will be seen that 
K, the rectum or lowest portion of the bowel, is immediately 
behind the 

BLADDER. 

In women the womb is between the bladder and the rectum, 
lienee, in order to give more room for the passage of the infant, 
Nature is constantly prompting to urination, so that if labor pains 
come in an instant, as sometimes they do, the bladder may 
be empty, for if full it is pretty sure to be ruptured and deatli 
is inevitable. Hence the unwisdom, towards the close of ges¬ 
tation, of resisting the inclination to urination, or of complaining 
of the trouble of it, or of doing something, or wanting to take 
something, to prevent it. 

Another important lesson is, that towards the close of gestation 
there should be secured by any and all means one full evacuation 
of the bowels, if not two—one i]i the morning and one at night 
and few would fail of that, if the food were to consist mainly of 


182 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


coarse breads, fruits in great abundance, and vegetables. This 
practical suggestion can scarcely be underrated in importance. 

G, the gall bladder. 

K, the kidneys, which are situated immediately on either side 
of the backbone and close to the back, thickly enveloped in fat, 
as may be seen any time at a butcher’s shop. All know the line 
' of the lower edge of the ribs; the kidneys, as will be seen, are in 
the rear, about one part above the line named, and one part 
below. 

L is the liver. 

S, the spleen. 

U, the ureters, or channels, which carry the urine from the 
kidneys into the bladder. 

Abdomen, accent on the second syllable, which is pronounced 
like the word “ dough,” means to hide, or cover, as it does, like 
a curtain, all that has been explained. 

The stomach is not seen in this plate ; it was removed in order 
to show more fully the liver, pancreas or sweet bread, spleen, and 
kidneys. 

In front of all these, like a veil, is the 

PEKITONiEUM, 

a very thin membrane, which covers and lines externally, 
running down in between all the organs above named. 

-C<50--- 

HICCOUGH 

Is a nervous contraction of certain muscles connected in their mo¬ 
tions with the stomach. It is a fatal sign in some forms of disease, 
while cases are on record where the hiccough was so persistent as to 
induce convulsions and death. The old cure was “ nine swallows 
of water,” which, by distending the stomach, gave relief in many 
cases. But it is always desirable that the memory be stored with 
a variety of remedies for an affection which is so common, and at 
times inconvenient, to say the least of it. A lump or two of sugar, 
dissolved in the mouth and swallowed, has sometimes relieved the 
most distressing cases, and comes within the meaning of “ The 
Food Cure.” Sometimes a few mouthfuls of food, or even a diver¬ 
sion of the mind, is all-sufficient. 




DIABETES. 


183 


DIABETES, 

Or sweet water, as it is called by the common people, is attend¬ 
ed with great thirst and large urination ; a gallon of water has 
been drunk in a night and as much urinated. It may be 
months and even years before the disease readies this extent of 
action ; but whenever it is done, there is great debility of all the 
muscles of the body, a man “ can’t work.” Sometimes there is 
general emaciation with distention of the belly, as if there were 
an immense tumor there ; and yet the bowels may be regular and 
appetite good; still the great overshadowing symptom is present— 
an insufferable frecpiency of urination every few minutes, some¬ 
times indeed at intervals of three and four hours or more, as in 
healthy persons. 

Some persons discharge two or three gallons of water in the 
course of a long winter’s night; under such large discharges, the. 
cure, when possible, is necessarily slow, requiring weeks and 
months. From the numerous remedies which seem to have been 
successful, there can be no doubt that nature is sometimes her own 
best physician. For example, several persons have stated in print 
that they have been perfectly cured by drinking no other fluid 
but their own urine. 

A reliable treatment under which persons who have been suffer¬ 
ing many months, and have gained fifteen and twenty pounds in a 
few weeks is found in the use of tannic acid, opium and ergot, thus: 

Take one hundred grains of tannic acid, ten grains of opium, 
and twenty grains of ipecac, make into twenty pills ; take one at 
a time three times a day at six hours interval, the last on going 
to bed. 

Take one teaspoonful of tincture of ergot in a little v^ater, just 
before each meal. 

Bub into the spine lightly and patiently, with the hand, night 
and morning, a quarter of a large teaspoonful of ointment made 
thus: 

Sixty grains of poke-berry root, called American hellebore 
or veratrum viride, mixed v T ell with a teaspoonful of hog’s lard ; 
the poke-root has a stimulating effect on the skin, the lard is cool- 
iiio% and the frictions with the hand are very beneficial, and all 
together do a great deal of good. 


184 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


The diet should be of vegetables, coarse bread, and fruits, 
drinking moderately of hot teas; the whole treatment to be perse¬ 
vered in until the flesh and strength return, and urination takes place 
on an average not oftener than at four hours interval. The cures 
which have followed this treatment have been permanent; which 
may be known by the urine having its natural saltish taste instead 
of sweet; it loses its violet or sweet milk smell; its excessive 
quantity, and dry skin; and emaciation and debility gradually dis¬ 
appear. This disease was first noticed by Celsus, a medical 
writer in the time of Augustus Caesar, in the age of Yirgil and 
Horace, and Caesar and Cicero. 

Diabetic urine in a summer temperature turns sour, sometimes 
ferments, and by adding a little yeast a vinous fermentation takes 
place. A gallon of this diabetic urine will average a pound of 
solid matter, if boiled down. 

Diabetes is more common to men than women; to the old than 
the young; to the spare rather than the stout; it is inherited, but 
oftener is brought on by the use of liquor, its causes are all such 

as tend to throw more work than is natural on the kidneys. For 

«/ 

example, in cold weather the kidneys have to do more work than 
in warm weather, because the surface of the body is more exposed 
to chilliness, and less water passes off in the form of perspiration; 
and as a certain amount must be passed out of the body during 
each twenty-four hours, in health, if less is passed off in perspira¬ 
tion, more must be passed off by the kidneys, hence it is that in 
damp and cold climates and localities, diabetes is more common 
than in high, warm situations; it is also brought on by frequent 
checking of perspiration by the drying up suddenly of old sores 
or runnings or issues, or by the sudden driving in of any break¬ 
ings out on the -body, hence in all treatment of diabetes two 
things should be ever kept in sight: at least one full, free action 
of the bowels in every twenty-four hours, because the freer the 
bowels are, the more of the wastes of the system do they pass 
off, leaving less for the kidneys to do; and for the same reason 
persons ought to dress warm, and keep warm, so as to promote a 
soft perspiring condition of the pores of the skin, hence any medi¬ 
cines which tend to promote a soft moist condition of the skin, are 
very valuable, hence the value of large doses of opium. Sydenham 
found this out more than two hundred years ago. Opium, in large 
doses of half a grain at a time, does not have the constipating qual- 


DIABETES. 


1S5 


ity of small doses, as a general rule; but if it does liave that effect 
in any case, means must be taken to counteract the costiveness,-such 
as oil, chewing rhubarb root, or the use of the dinner-pill, to the ex¬ 
tent required. For the same reason moderate labor or exercise, 
continuous, but not carried to the extent of weariness at any time, 
especially if in the open air, promoting and causing perspiration, 
will always have to that extent a curative effect, if care is taken 
after the perspiration has been excited, that the system is not 
allowed to cool off too quickly. 

Whatever medicines are taken to cure diabetes, three things 
must be done outside the use of medicine, or a cure need not be 
expected in any case. 

First. Keep up the general health to the highest point all the 
time (which article see). 

Second. Get up a good appetite and a vigorous digestion by 
means of exertive exercises in the open air. (See article on Air 
and Exercise.) 

Third. Do all that is possible to diminish the amount of work 
done by the kidneys, by keeping the bowels free, and by promo¬ 
ting the vigorous action of the skin, washing the whole surface of 
the body twice a week with soap and warm water, and vigorous 
rubbing of the surface with the hands—not with sponge or harsh 
cloths, or brushes; the object being to keep the skin soft and 
moist. 

A great deal has been said about the appearance, color, etc., of 
the urine in this disease, but as few know what the urine should 
look like in health, and as its color and quantity are altered by so 
many circumstances of diet, exercise and weather, and as some 
persons are very imaginative, and really sensible people are 
occasionally drawn into the habit of forever inspecting the urine, 
it has been thought best to say nothing as to what it looks like in 
diabetes (see urination), and as soon as possible let any one having 
it apply to an educated physician. 

Sometimes, when the discharges of water are very large, take one 
or two or three of the following pills every day, one at a time, to 
the extent of causing two full evacuations in every twenty-four houi s. 
four grains of extract ox-gall, two grains of rhubarb, and one of 
aloes ; or, if the liquid form is preferred, four drachms of the inspis¬ 
sated extract of ox-gall in water, one dose three or four times a day, 
to the extent of causing two actions of the bowels daily. 


186 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


There is too much sugar in the urine, hence food and drink 
should be used which furnish as little sweetness, as little sugar 
as possible, such as spinach, lettuce, cabbage, celery and onions, 
meats, eggs, butter, and jellies of any kind, made of animal pro¬ 
duct, using mainly bran-bread without any sweetening ; if stimu¬ 
lants are needed, claret and sherry wines are best in small quantities. 

Whenever a person has diabetes and is increasing in weight, he 
is to that extent certainly getting well, it is a more important 
symptom of improvement than the lessening sweet taste of the 
urine. Diabetes insipidus is an immense discharge of limpid w T a- 
ter with inappeasable thirst and great debility; it is rare, and an 
improvement of the general health is the best means of cure. 

This diabetes, “a running through,” as the Greeks expressed it, 
as if the water taken into the stomach passed immediately onward 
through the system, is treated 

HYDROPATHIC ALLY 

by inviting the blood to the surface in all possible ways, frictions, 
bathings, rubbings, and fomentations; beginning with a tepid sheet 
bath, succeeded immediately by being placed in bed with a dry 
pack in a way to secure profuse perspiration, with a gradual cool¬ 
ing off and thorough rubbing of the whole skin with the hands, 
or warm flannels, or even cloths, whatever seems to aid most in 
keeping the skin soft and warm; water is allowed to be drank 
most freely ; the diet is almost wholly of the meal of any kind of 
grain, with potatoes, and fruits, and berries as a dessert after each 
meal, even to drink freely bran tea, made by pouring hot water 
on bran, a pint to a pint, let it cool, and drink it as it is, or make 
a kind of lemonade out of it ; the meals, thrice a day, to consist 
wholly of the meal or flour made of the whole grain, used as 
mush or Graham bread. The water used in quenching thirst 
should be rain or distilled water, or common water boiled, but 
this last is not as good as the others; better take pains to get the 
best. 


ALIMENTARY CANAL. 


187 





nwnilMIIIIIMffl 


wmm 




'i.H^ 




ALIMENTARY CANAL. 


Tiie above cut is to show the progress of the food from the lips 
until it gets to the lower part of the hod) 7 . 

1 and 2, Upper and lower jaw. 

3, Tongue. 

4, Roof of the mouth. 

5, (Esophagus, showing where the swallow, or throat proper, 
ends, and leads into a tube which is the channel for the food, into 
the stomach. 

6, Trachea, or windpipe, which is in front of the “swallow,” or 
oesophagus. It marks the point where Adam’s apple is, made 









188 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


by the structure of the voice-making organs or larynx, the seat of 
laryngitis, or clergymen’s sore throat. 

8, Sublingual glands, that is, under the tongue. 

9, Parotid glands. Both 8 and 9 manufacture the saliva to 
keep the mouth moist and to dilute the food, so that it can be 
swallowed more readily. 

9, Stomach. 

10, 10, Liver. 

11, Gall-bladder. 

12, Gall-duct which conveys the bile into the intestines, drop 
by drop, after gating chiefly, just below the stomach; but in heav¬ 
ing as in vomiting, the bile passes upwards into the stomach, caus¬ 
ing deathly sickness, for that is not its proper jfface; but when it 
gets to where it belongs it causes no discomfort whatever, unless 
it has been kept in the gall-bladder too long, causing it to become 
concentrated and acrid, then it causes great burning or smarting 
or pain, or even cramps, as it passes along through the alimentary 
canal; hence, when there is griping after taking medicine, it is a 
favorable sign, as showing that the contents of the bowels are 
passing along downwards; and the griping show r s how necessary 
it was that the bile should be carried away; when it is the result 
of liver medicines patients are very apt to attribute the griping 
pains to the harsh nature of the medicines, when it is really the 
bad, acrid bile, which the medicine is bringing away. 

GALL-STONES. 

It is at the point of the figure 12, where the gall-duct is 
the narrowest, that such insupportable pain is experienced when 
gall-stones are passing out of the gall-bladder into the intestines. 
Anything which causes deathly sickness relaxes this canal, allows 
it to stretch, and then the gall-stone passes more easily; but in 
passing, the inflammation which it causes is so great sometimes as 
to occasion death in a few days. These gall-stones form mainly 
because the liver does not carry off the bile, and then it crystallizes 
and forms into hard stones. Persons liable to gall-stones should 
eat no wheat, or bread made out of it, or any other grain (see 
article The Best Bread), because there is so much lime in wheat, 
as also in the water, but should drink milk, rain or snow water, 
or distilled water, and eat rice, sago, tapioca, fruits, berries, and 
lean meats and vegetables, for these have no lime in them. 


COSTIVEEESS. 


189 


13, 13, 14, Pancreas or sweet bread, the use of which gland has 
not yet been satisfactorily ascertained, but the fluids secreted or 
manufactured by it, aid in the promotion of digestion ; this gland 
is immediately behind the stomach, and lays right across the 
spinal column, a little to the right of the spleen, which is about 
the lower edge of the left ribs. 

15, 15, 15, 15, is the small intestine ; the arrows show the direc¬ 
tion which the food takes. One part of this intestine is called 
Colon, from a Greek word meaning to arrest, because it keeps the 
food so long in passing through it, that it may be said to arrest 
it, requiring from five to ten or fifteen or more hours in passing 
the whole distance of the intestines, some thirty feet from the 
stomach to the outlet. It will be seen that after the food passes 
from the stomach it crosses from one side of the body to the other 
a number of times on a descending plane until it gets to the bot¬ 
tom, then it ascends to near where it started, crosses again imme¬ 
diately under the stomach, and then descends to No. 20, where it 
enters the 

RECTUM, 

which is the largest intestine, and the lowest and last; it is the 
reservoir for the reception of that part of the food which is call¬ 
ed waste, and of which no use can be made. It would not an¬ 
swer for these waste matters to be constantly passing from the 
body, any more than the urine, hence Nature has given the rectum 
a considerable capacity for holding; it gets fuller and fuller all 
the time, until the distention reaches a certain point, causing un¬ 
easiness and inclination to stool, when by an effort of the will, we 
open the outlet of the rectum, called the 

ANUS, 

' which has muscles to close it, very much like the strings which by 
being drawn close a purse. The ordinary contents of the rectum 
are of the consistence of mortar, but if they remain there too long, 
heat or fever is generated, the more watery particles are evaporat¬ 
ed, leaving the rest hard and so shrunk, that there is not distention 
enough to cause the inclination to discharge. This is called 

COSTIVENESS, 

if it continues for a day or two; if for several days or a week, it 
becomes 


190 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR . 


CONSTIPATION. 

Hence it happens, that when the bowels have been torpid for a 
day or two, not acting, the first that comes out is hard, sometimes 
in little halls. When an 

ENEMA 

or injection is used, the object of it is to supply fluid in the place 
of that which has been absorbed or dried up, with a view to ob¬ 
tain an amount of distention which will cause a desire for an 
evacuation. A great deal of mystery is occasioned sometimes by 
having this, that, or the other kind of injection; some want salt 
water, some want flaxseed tea; the principle of all is the same— 
an increase of bulk, so as to distend the rectum to an extent suf¬ 
ficient to create a desire to evacuate, and water is the simplest and 
best. When medicines are given to act on the bowels they sim¬ 
ply come down to the rectum, and distend it, as castor oil; or they 
irritate the tender lining of the bowels and make them throw out 
' water, as an irritated eyeball; salts do, or even common salt water. 

When medicines are given to act on the liver, the bile in the 
liver is thrown out into the gall-bladder, thence into the intestines, 
and in such larger quantities than common that it irritates the 
bowels, causes more water to be thrown out, and the extra bile 
mixing with it makes it all look yellow or green or dark ; 
whereas the water caused by salts is not specially colored ; hence 
we speak of bilious discharges, which are always healthful; then 
persons should notice the color of the privy paper, which will 
enable them to know whether they are going to be better or not. 
It is the colorless or watery passages which make one weak and do 
not give promise of better health. Much has been said about 

FIGS 

being good to remove costiveness, and so they are, as well as to¬ 
matoes and 

WHITE MUSTARD SEED. 

The little seeds, in passing along this immense bowel tract or surface, 
irritate, cause watering, and really act on the same principle as 
drugs, only they are milder in their operation. It is believed that 
the reader has now a better and clearer idea of the philosophy of 
purgatives, enemas, or injections, which will be exceedingly 
satisfactory in after-life. 


AGUE CAKE. 


191 


21 is the spleen. It is the swelling of this, and subsequent 
hardening, which causes 

AGUE CAKE. 

The spleen is the reservoir of the liver, to keep it supplied with 
blood. Hence when the liver has been affected for a long time, 
as in fever and ague, the spleen becomes diseased also, because 
the liver is so congested, so full of blood, that it cannot receive 
the blood from the spleen ; but as the heart is all the time driving 
the blood into the spleen, and the liver will not receive it, it be¬ 
comes full, and swells and hardens, as the mother’s breast hardens 
if the milk is not drawn from it fast enough. Hence, also, if the 
liver pains it soon passes over on the other side, and the spleen 
pains also—sometimes one side, then another; that is about the 
lower edge of the ribs. Persons are often annoyed by having 
pains along the edge of the ribs below, apprehending consump¬ 
tion ; but the experienced physician always feels relieved when 
a patient complains of a pain at the right short ribs, especially if 
it goes over to the left side sometimes, for he knows it is too low 
down for the lungs; that it must be in the liver and spleen, hence 
is far less dangerous; in addition, the disease there tends to draw 
disease away from the lungs, is an actual protection, and if the 
pulse is not over seventy beats in a minute he is delighted, because 
when the lungs are consumptive, and no bleeding from them, the 
pulse keeps above eighty, and up and up over a hundred and still 
up, and the man dies. 

16 is the opening into the large intestine. 

22, Upper part of spinal column. 

ALIMENTARY CANAL 

includes the entire distance from the opening of the lips to the 
outer opening of the “rectum,” for along this whole channel 
we find the aliment must pass, undergoing various changes at 
several different points. The lips open to receive it; at the very 
threshold the front teeth take hold of it to divide it, next the jaw 
teeth press it and grind it into a pulp, then the tongue pushes it 
to its back part to the top of the throat or oesophagus (which see), 
called by some the swallow, through this it passes into the stom¬ 
ach, where it is detained several hours; during the whole of which 



192 


IIALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


time it is kept in motion, being carried round and round, under¬ 
going a process of dissolution, or melting, from without inwards 
until all solidity has disappeared, like stirring bits of ice with a 
spoon in a vessel of water, until all is water; then it is in a condi¬ 
tion to pass through the lower, right-hand portion of the stomach, 
called the 

PYLORIC ORIFICE, 

into the upper part of the bowels proper, along which it passes 
more or less slowly for twenty or thirty feet, when at the end of 
about twenty-four hours in ordinary health it reaches the rectum 
and is voided from the body; but from the time it enters the 
stomach until it reaches the rectum the food is constantly parting 
with more or less of its nutritious particles ; a certain kind are ab¬ 
sorbed by the veins in the stomach, others are sucked up by the 
lacteals of .the bowels, and by the time it gets into the rectum all 
the nutriment is absorbed, has been carried into the circulation, 
and nothing is left but useless waste matter, containing no sub¬ 
stance, no nutriment whatever, and this is called “ dung,” which 
nourishes, manures the ground, and makes it more productive of 
whatever may be put into it by the farmer or gardener, and thus 
it is that we feed upon the products of the earth, and the rem¬ 
nants go to enrich that earth again, making an eternal circuit to 
the end of time. 

It is said that if the urine and excrement of a person were 
preserved for a year, and properly mixed with earth and 
spread over the ground, there would be enough to manure 
sixty-five acres of land, doubling the productiveness. At first 
thought this may seem very repulsive, but the blood and de¬ 
caying bodies and bones of thousands and thousands who have 
perished on the battle-field have enriched the soil for years and 
years afterwards, causing the most luxuriant crops of grain, which 
were just as sweet, just as perfect wheat and corn as if it had been 
raised from a virgin soil; the ablest chemist has never been able 
to find one atom of matter in one that was not found in the other, 
the products of both being perfect, as are all of Nature’s works 
and processes. 

Look again at No. 12. It is easy to see that if pressure was made 
on the gall-bladder, its contents would naturally run in a down¬ 
ward direction into the bowels. Its situation is at the edge of the 


APPETITE. 


193 


ribs and a little aboYe on the right side; if, then, the ball of the 
thumb or hand is used by pressing it from the edge of the ribs 
downward, beginning at the hip-bone and extending around as 
far as the navel, and from the navel back to the hip-bone, the 
tendency of it would be to empty the gall-bladder, and make more 
room for bile to come into it from the liver, hence relieve the 
parts of the extra bile without medicine, that is, tend to cure all 
symptoms which arise from a torpid liver, that is, all the symptoms 
which arise from biliousness, such as poor appetite, foul tongue, 
yellow skin, yellow eyes, headache and cold feet, resulting 
from a torpid liver; but they sometimes arise from very 
different causes. Hence this kneading of the liver five or ten 
minutes night and morning is a very valuable mechanical remedy 
for torpid liver, biliousness, wind on the stomach, indigestion, 
and other kindred symptoms. It is to be hoped that the reader 
will not allow the idea to be forgotten or to be unappreciated,be¬ 
cause of its simplicity and availability and costlessness. There 
are persons who for a quarter of a century have used these knead- 
ings for the various ailments named, have used no others, and 
have maintained their health, apparently, by these very same 
means. It requires patient persistence and the avoidance of 
colds, constipation, over-eating, and constant confinement in-doors. 
If these same kneadings are continued lower down, when there is 
wind in the stomach or bowels, it will be uniformly successful in 
pushing the wind downward and outward. 

- zcn> - 

: APPETITE 

Is literally a seeking to or for, as a means of gratifying an inclina¬ 
tion, and is most frequently applied in its relation to food. It is 
distinct from hunger, which may be painful in its extent; it is 
Nature’s intimation that something is wanting to supply the place 
of what has been used or taken away. Every motion of the body 
wears away some particles, and unless other particles are de¬ 
posited in their places, the parts would be worn out or would 
lose their strength, and the machinery would cease to work , the 
appetite is in the nature of an instinct, a faithful monitoi, and v ill 
13 




194 


HALL’S FAMILY DOCTOR . 


not cease its admonitions until the want is supplied, until some¬ 
thing has been eaten. 

The best and most healthy appetite is that which inclines us 
moderately to eat when the regular eating time comes. If the 
appetite is'voracious day after day, it is the appetite of disease, and 
instead of gratifying it freely, it should be only partially done. 
The easiest way to correct a voracious appetite, such as is con¬ 
nected with dyspepsia, is to take half as much as usual, eat it 
slowly, and if in half an hour you feel as if you were not hungry 
at all and had eaten enough, then a persistence in this course 
will in a reasonable time break up the voraciousness. But if, 
when you have not eaten “ half enough ” according to your feel¬ 
ings, you continue to be tormented with hunger, it is most prob¬ 
ably the result of the presence of a tape-worm (which see). 

TnE WANT OF AN APPETITE, CALLED ANOREXIA, 

is the result of disease, generally of biliousness (which article see), 
and if the means there suggested are used, it will not be long 
before the appetite returns. 

Perverted appetite is present in cases of chlorosis ; the person 
wants to eat chalk, clay, slate pencils, dirt, or other things, indicat¬ 
ing that the whole digestive function is in a diseased condition, 
although there may be no sign of disease. 

MORBID APPETITE 

is present in various forms of disease; it is of practical importance 
to know how to distinguish it, to know whether it is morbid or 
legitimate ; it usually manifests itself in one or more of five dif¬ 
ferent ways, each of which is opposed to a natural, healthy appetite. 

First. It comes on suddenly, and often with very great violence, 
driving the person sometimes to feats of perfect desperation, seem¬ 
ing for the instant to quench the reasoning faculties, and to extin¬ 
guish all fear of personal suffering or responsibility. A drunkard 
was once sentenced to the penitentiary, where no liquors were al¬ 
lowed, under any pretence whatever, unless by the express permis¬ 
sion or prescription of the prison physician; on ordinary occasions 
he had resisted the desire. One day he came running towards the 
keeper, holding up one arm, all bleeding, frantically exclaiming, 
“ Brandy! brandy! a bowl of brandy to stop the bieedi ng.’’ In the 


APPETITE. 


195 


confusion it was run for and handed to him ; he thrust the stump 
of his arm into it and the next moment drank his fill with the 
eagerness of a famishing wild beast. lie then explained that such 
a terrible desire for one more drink of brandy came over him like 
an avalanche, that it was perfectly irresistible ; he felt that lie 
would willingly give his life for one more drink, and instantly the 
• expedient came to his mind, and was instantly adopted, to cut oil 
his hand at the wrist and carry out the ruse as he did. 

Sometimes persons, without any special indication of there being 
anything the matter with them, are suddenly seized with a fit of 
hunger ; perhaps it may have been excited by the appearance of 
some unexpected dish, or the smell of soup or other things from 
the distant kitchen; this feeling may come on within an hour or 
two after a regular meal. It is a morbid appetite, and if indulged 
in is certain to be followed in a few hours, or before next morning, 
with some nausea, vomiting, cholera morbus, or some distressing 
ailment in connection with the alimentary canal (which see), while 
the gratification of this sudden appetite will greatly aggravate the 
disease which is about manifesting itself. Abstinence from this 
gratification may not be sufficient to prevent a modified attack; 
hence when this sudden feeling of hunger is noticed, it should be 
regarded as a friendly admonition of Nature to go out of doors im- 
mediately and walk briskly, or work an hour or two or more to the 
extent of getting up a gentle perspiration; cool off very slowly 
. when- returning to the house, and if after dinner, eat nothing 
whatever for the remainder of the day, or take a cup or two of 
hot tea; and a breakfast of cold bread and butter and a cup of hot 
drink and nothing else. In this way an attack of sickness will be 
certainly prevented ; Nature will have time to regain a healthf ul 
condition of the system, and all will be well, and thus several days 
of troublesome sickness and loss of time may be avoided. If this 
sudden hunger should come on between breakfast and dinner, omit 
dinner altogether, and about 5 i\m. take a bowl of soup or hot 
tea with bread crust broken into it, and nothing else for that day, 
and aim to secure three or four hours in outdoor activities. 

Second. A morbid appetite is insatiable, it wants more and 
more. However much a person relishes a good apple, a luscious 
peach, or a cooling water-melon, there will soon be a feeling of 
having had enough, and for five or six or more hours afterwards 
the sight of anyone of these would not cause any desire 101 them. 


196 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


But every drunkard knows that when he takes one drink, even if it 
be to the fill, in a very short time he will want it just as much as 
if he had not taken that fill. 

Third. A morbid appetite seems to aggravate itself, as a fire in 
a large city, the more it burns, the more furious does it become. 

Fourth. A morbid appetite destroys a natural appetite. A slave 
to tobacco or liquor becomes more and more subject to its tyr¬ 
anny, and in proportion loses his appetite for evertliing else; 
the same is the case with the slavish use of tea and coffee; after 
a while nothing else is wanted, until the end is reached to drink 
and drink and die. 

Fifth. A morbid appetite wants one thing ; the whiskey-drinker 
wants whiskey and nothing else; the man who chews tobacco 
comes to the point at last when he must have it in his mouth all 
the time; the appetite for food in both cases becoming less and less, 
the flesh becomes thinner and thinner, the legs become mere spin¬ 
dles, and the whole man is a skeleton, a shadow, mere skin and 
bone; so it is precisely in the excessive use of any stimulant. It 
should be borne in mind, then, that the appetite is morbid, and dis¬ 
ease and premature death will certainly follow when that appetite 
is sudden or insatiable, or constantly increases or destroys desire for 
other things, or wants more and more the one thing. The natural 
appetite is the reverse of all these; it comes on slowly, it is mod¬ 
erate, it is satiated, it is appeased by eating any one of a dozen 
“good things; ” however satisfied with one thing to-day, it will 
be satisfied with almost any other the day following, while the 
poor drunkard calls out for whiskey yesterday, to-day, and forever, 
with louder and louder cries, until body and soul are ruined for 
time and for eternity. 

Then there is the fitful or fanciful appetite of pregnancy; 
things are wanted which are out of season; this want increases 
the more it is thought about, until it amounts to an unappeasable 
longing; the popular prejudice being, that if it is not gratified 
some “mark” will be the result; it is well to endeavor to satisfy 
these desires as soon as possible; to take pains and to spare no 
expense to appease the desires on her part, whose condition appeals 
to all the best feelings and sympathies of our nature. 

Then there is the variable appetite of childhood ; at one time 
eating most voraciously, at another eating almost nothing at all; if 
the sleep in such cases is disturbed, the face pale, and more or less 


APPETITE. 


197 


gnawing in the stomach or bowels, especially if there be itchinga 
about the anus, then worm medicines should be tried without delay. 

The simple 

WANT OF AN AITETITE, 

unconnected with any special disease, means that the body is 
too full, has too much in it, is clogged, and is not ready to receive 
any more; to force the appetite under such circumstances is sui¬ 
cidal ; its tendency is to destroy the body. The very first thing to 
be done, and which is of essential importance, is to diminish this 
fulness, to work off this excess of material which is dooming the 
wdieels of life and prevents the human machine from its proper 
working. 

When this want of appetite is present, the whole body seems to 
be out of order, there is a general feeling of discomfort every¬ 
where, the body is indisposed to exertion, there is no elasticity, no 
vigor, the mind itself is depressed, the spirits are dull, and the 
wdiole man is out of order without there being any actual disease. 
But notwithstanding this indisposition to go out of doors, to dress 
and take a walk, only if the person does so, heat once begins to feel 
the better for it, simply because every step he takes wears out and 
off from the system both solid particles and those more fluid and 
gaseous in the perspiration, and if the walking is continued long 
enough to get up a good perspiration so as to carry off some of the 
load, the man feels actually less tired than when he took the first 
step. If such a person is in a great hurry to get an appetite, it 
will expedite matters to take three of Cook’s pills at bedtime on 
a light supper, and next day to take nothing but soup or tea with 
bread crust broken into them, at intervals of five hours aiid only 
thrice in the twenty-four ; but after that, eat regularly, at regular 
meals, nothing between, no dessert at dinner and only one cup of 
tea and a piece of cold bread and butter for supper, but walking 
or working steadily for about two hours in the forenoon and two 
hours in the afternoon; and if this is judiciously done, and kept up, 
there will be appetite enough in less than ten days, especially if 
the two hours in the forenoon and afternoon are extended to foui 
each, and the simple walk becomes steady, useful work. When 
Nature’s machinery is clogged up with waste and uselesb and c cat 
particles, she takes away the appetite purposely, for eveiy mout 1 


198 


UAL US FAMILY DOCTOR. 


ful swallowed under such circumstances only increases the clog¬ 
ging ; first work off the surplus instead of adopting a universal yet 
ruinous course of “ taking something/’ bitter tonics and the long list 
of appetizers; for it is simply fighting against Nature, it is endea¬ 
voring to compel her to take into the system that which will only op¬ 
press it more and more, and might weigh it down into the grave, to 
say nothing of the danger of getting into the habit of taking bit¬ 
ters, of getting up a taste for them which may lead to a drunkard’s 
grave, and which has done so in hundreds of thousands of cases of 
persons who felt perfectly assured .that there was no danger of 
their learning to drink, and would almost feel insulted at the most 
remote intimation of such a thing, for let it be remembered that 
“ bitters ” means nothing more than disguised alcohol in all cases. 

THE INSTINCT OF APPETITE. 

Chemical analysis and physiological research have established, 
beyond dispute, that every article of food and drink is composed 
of elements differing in quantity or quality. It is equally true 
that the various parts of the human frame are different in their 
composition—as the bone, the flesh, the nerve, the tendon, etc. 
But there is no element in the human body which is not found in 
some article of food or drink. A certain normal proportion of 
these elements, properly distributed, constitutes vigorous health, 
and forms a perfect body. If one of these elements be in excess, 
certain forms of disease manifest themselves; if there is not 
enough, some other malady affects the frame. When the blood 
contains less than its healthful amount of iron, it is poor, watery, 
and comparatively colorless; the muscles are flabby, the face pale, 
the eyes sunken, the whole body weak, the mind listless and sad. 
If the bones have not enough lime, they have no strength, are 
easily bent, and the patient is rickety ; if there is too much lime, 
then the bones are brittle, and are broken by the slightest fall or 
unusual strain. The highest skill of the physician in these cases 
consists in.determining the excess or deficit of any element, and 
in supplying such food or drug as will meet the case; when the 
medical attendant cannot determine what is wanting nor furnish 
the supply, Nature is often loud enough in her calls, through the 
tastes or appetites, to indicate very clearly what item of food or 
drink contains the needed elements; this is the “ Instinct of 


APPETITE. 


100 


Appetite.” Chemistry is unable to say of hut one article of food, 
that it contains all the constituents necessary to supply the human 
body with every element requisite for its welfare, and that is pure 
milk, as supplied by the mother of the new being; but after the 
first years of life the body demands new elements, in order to 
enable it to meet the duties which increasing age imposes; hence 
Nature dries up this spring, as being no longer adequate, and com¬ 
pels the search for other kinds of sustenance, showing that milk 
is a proper, sole food for the young ones ; but healthy grown per¬ 
sons who live upon it mainly,will always become invalids. 

All kinds of life, whether vegetable or animal, have within them 
a principle of preservation, as well as of perpetuity; were that 
not the case all that breathes or grows would die ; this principle or 
quality is common to man and beast, and all that springs from 
root or seed; it is named “Instinct.” It is instinct which calls, 
by thirst, for water, when there is not fluid enough in the system. 
It is instinct which calls for food, by hunger, when a man is weak 
and needs renovation. It is curious and practically valuable as a 
means for the removal of disease, to notice the working of this in¬ 
stinct, for it seems to be almost possessed with a discriminating 
intelligence ; certain it is that standard medical publications give 
well-authenticated facts, showing that following the cravings of 
the appetite the animal instinct lias accomplished far more 
than the physician’s skill was able to do ; has saved life in multi¬ 
tudes of cases, when science has done its best, but in vain. 

Some years ago the little daughter of a farmer on the Hudson 
river had a fall, which induced a long, painful, and dangerous ill¬ 
ness, ending in blindness ; medication availed nothing. By acci¬ 
dent a switch containing maple-buds was placed in her hands, 
when she began to eat them, and called earnestly for more, and 
continued to eat them with avidity, improving, meanwhile, in her 
general health for some fifteen days or more, when this particular 
relish left her, and she called for candy, and, as in the case of the 
buds, ate nothing else for two weeks, when this also was dropped; 
a more natural taste returning with returning eyesight and usual 
health. This was instinct calling for those articles of food which 
contained the elements the want of which lay between disease 


and recovery. 

A gentleman, aged thirty-six, seemed to be in the last stages of 
consumptive disease, when he was seized with an uncontrollable 


200 


UAL VS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


desire for common table-salt; lie spread it in thick layers over 
liis meat, and over his bread and butter; he carried it in his vest 
pocket, which was daily emptied by eating a pinch at a time. 
He regained his health, and remained well for years afterwards. 

More recently, a case occurred in England of a child gradually 
declining in health, in spite of all that could be done by a re¬ 
markably shrewd and observant physician. On one of his visits 
he found the father sipping a glass of toddy. The thought oc¬ 
curred to the doctor to offer some of it to the child, who took it 
with great satisfaction. The hint was improved ; more was given, 
and more ; and for two months this child of two years old lived 
almost wholly on whiskey-toddy, when the desire declined, a more 
natural appetite returned, the health improving every hour, and 
was eventually entirely restored ; but ever thereafter the child 
loathed the very smell or even sight of whiskey-toddy. 

A similar case is reported where a sick child took a pint of ale 
daily, and nothing else for many days, ultimately recovering, 
when the sight of an ale-bottle could not be endured. The child 
of a Hew Yorker was supposed to be dying of the “ summer com¬ 
plaint.” As a last and desperate resort it was hurried off to 
Hockaway in August, having the (usually considered fatal) hiccup 
when it started. Immediatelv on its arrival—on a cold, raw, 
chilly evening, about an hour after sundown—some fresh milk 
from the cow was instantly boiled and offered to it. It was with 
difficulty that the bowl could be withdrawn from its poor emaci¬ 
ated fingers. After an hour’s interval more milk was given, and 
nothing else, for a number of days. That child is now one of the 
heartiest, healthiest girls in New York! 

In the cases above given, the children could not name their 
cravings; but accident threw in their wav what the instincts re- 
quired. Grown persons can express their cravings. There are 
many persons who can record, from their own personal experience, 
the beginning of a return to health from gratifying some insatiate 
desire. The celebrated Professor Charles Caldwell was fond of 
relating in his lectures that a young lady, abandoned to die, called 
for some pound-cake, which “ science ” would have pronounced a 
deadly dose; but as her case was considered hopeless she was 
gratified, and recovered, living in good health afterwards. But 
in some forms of dyspepsia to follow the cravings is to aggravate 
the disease; life is made intolerable, and suicide closes the scene. 


ASTHMA. 


201 


In low fevers, typhoid, yielding to the cravings is certain 
death. 

To know when and how to follow the instinct of appetite, to 
gratify the cravings of nature, is of inestimable value. There is a 
rule which is always safe, and will save life in multitudes of cases, 
whene the most skilfully “exhibited” drugs have been entirely 
unavailing. Partake at first of what nature seems to crave, in 
very small quantities ; if no uncomfortable feeling follows, gradu¬ 
ally increase the amount, until no more is called for. These sug¬ 
gestions and facts find confirmation in the large experience of 
that now beautiful and revered name, Florence Nightingale, whose 
memory will go down with blessing and honor side by side with 
that of the immortal John Howard to remotest time. She says:— 
“ I have seen, not by ones or tens, but by hundreds, cases where 
the stomach not only craves, but digests things which have never 
been laid down in any dietary for the sick, especially for the sick 
whose diseases were produced by bad food. Fruit, pickles, jams, 
gingerbread, fat of ham, of bacon, suet, cheese, buttermilk, etc., 
were administered freely, with happy results, simply because the 
sick craved them.” 

But as instincts sometimes mislead, it is better to give but a very 
little of the craved thing at a time at first, then a little more in 
five or six hours, and thus feel the way along to the right course. 


•-- —cov - 

ASTHMA 

Is laborious breathing; the need of breath is such that there is an 
instinctive feeling, that if you were to stop long enough to say a 
single word you would suffocate ; you imperiously wave a person 
away who is approaching you, as if you felt he would keep the 
air from coming to you. 

There are two kinds of asthma; one is spasmodic, coming on in¬ 
stantly sometimes, without any premonition ; it is more correctly 
a nervous asthma, as it arises from an unnatural condition of the 

PNEUMOGASTRIC NERVE, 

that is, the lung-stomach nerve, which so connects the lungs and 
stomach, that if the part connected with the stomach is initated 




202 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


or in any way disturbed, the lungs are implicated in that disturb¬ 
ance. Hence, if a person lias an attack of indigestion from over¬ 
eating, or from having taken something which does not agree with 
the stomach, an attack of this nervous or spasmodic asthma may be 
brought on; great emotions of the mind can do the same thing, 
the mind being connected with the nervous system ; * in either of 
these cases the nerves act in such a way as to contract the air- 
passages, the branches of the windpipe, or may prevent the air- 
cells from working naturally; thus it is that anything that sickens 
the stomach may relieve, for nausea relaxes; on the other hand, 
anything that antagonizes indigestion, that corrects acidity, may 
bring relief in an attack; therefore it is that alkalies in any 
form, soda, potash, and the like, may act efficiently. In this con¬ 
nection it is useful to state, that wherever there is a wood fire 
the means are at hand to give relief in an attack of nervous asth¬ 
ma, by pouring hot water on a handful of fresh ashes of wood, 
stir it; when settled pour it off, and if not too strong, swallow 
it down after it has cooled a little; or common ley, diluted with 
water, is a substitute, this being the foundation of potash; for if 
ley, or the water of the ashes, is boiled it is converted finally into 
a solid material potash, which is an alkali, and when purified and 
whitened makes saleratus; thus a little saleratus dissolved in water 
sometimes is a grateful relief in an attack of nervous or spasmodic 
asthma arising from indigestion or a sour stomach. 

The common form of asthma is that which is really 

FUNCTIONAL ASTHMA, 

the lungs not being able to work well in consequence of the 
bronchial tubes, that is, the branches of the windpipe, which con¬ 
vey the air to the lungs, being plugged up with a tough phlegm, 
as hereafter explained. This common asthma comes on about 
two o’clock in the morning, sometimes so suddenly, that the pa¬ 
tient bolts upright in bed from a sound sleep, draws up the knees, 
lajs his aims acioss them and leans his head forward on liis arms, 
this position being more favorable for easy breathing. After several 
hours of torture the system becomes relieved, the breathing be¬ 
comes easier, and about daylight sleep gives the sufferer rest. The 
essential nature of this form of asthma, as just stated, is the pre¬ 
vention of the air from getting out or getting into the lungs by a 
Plug of phlegm forming ; and before mid-day the patient feels, in 


ASTHMA. 


203 


many cases, as well as lie ever was in his life, except the debility, 
only to go through the same process the next day and the next 
for weeks' and even months, unless proper remedies are used; 
this is the humid asthma, the other is the dry, the spasmodic form. 
Persons seldom die in a fit of asthma. The great preacher, George 
WTiitefield, did so in Newbury port, Massachusetts, in 1770, aged 
only fifty-six, whereas asthmatics generally live to sixty or seventy. 
Asthma is antagonistic of consumption. The great overshadow¬ 
ing symptom of each is difficult breathing, greatly increased by 
exercise, but this difficult breathing in consumption is always pre¬ 
sent in rapid movements and in ascents; in asthma it is only pre¬ 
sent during an attack, while absent in the intervals of attacks. 
The labored breathing of asthma distends the air-cells, makes 
them capable of receiving more air, while the essence of consump¬ 
tion is the inability of the lungs to receive into them air enough 
for the wants of the system. Hence a person who has consumptive 
symptoms is cured by the disease changing to an asthmatic form, 
for the more air the lungs are made capable of receiving, the more 
perfectly is the blood purified, and improved health follows neces¬ 
sarily, other things being equal. Relief in common or humid 
asthma is the most urgent demand, and can be had safely in only 
one way, softening or diluting the tough tenacious phlegm in the 
branches of the windpipe; until that is done, the distressing anxious 
imploring look of the sufferer becomes more and more dreadful 
to witness. A large mustard plaster (which see) all over the chest, 
or between the shoulder-blades behind, will give more or less im¬ 
mediate relief ; but the exposure of the skin to the air is calculated 
to ao-oravate the trouble, hence it is better to do all that is possible 
to keep the skin of the whole body warm, or get it into a perspira¬ 
tion by tucking in the bed-clothing in a warm bed; drinking any 
kind of hot drinks, perhaps water is best, although not so palatable; 
bottles of hot water to the feet and under the arms, or along the 
spine i for whatever induces perspiration on the outside has a si¬ 
milar effect at least in among the lungs, diluting and loosening the 
phlegm as before stated. Another method is to take syrup of 
squills or tincture of ipecac (which see), to the extent of causing 
decided nausea, which it is known- causes the mouth to water, and 
this watering extends to the lungs and branches of the windpipe 
and dilutes the tough phlegm, loosens it, so that it may be brought 

away with a slight cough. 


204 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


The various preparations of opium give relief in asthma, only 
at the cost of leaving the patient in a more suffering condition 
than before, because they have a tendency to dry up, to close the 
mouths of those little vessels, which nauseating medicines open. 

A very eminent clergyman was suffering from asthma, brought 
on by long confinement to a damp apartment, lie alleviated his 
agonies from time to time with chloroform; it gave such prompt, 
such a delightful relief, that he exclaimed, with a feeling of gra¬ 
titude that he had it to take, “ A vial of it is worth a farm.” But 
each dose, as in opiates, makes every succeeding one more neces¬ 
sary, until, as in his case, death is inevitable. Hence the aim should 
always be, during an attack of asthma, to get up a cough, for a 
cough is the result of loosening phlegm, and the phlegm is to be 
loosened by warmth, by nauseants, and sometimes by breathing 
the steam of pretty warm water from the spout of a teapot, taking 
care not to draw in the steam with such strength as to draw the 
hot water with it and scald the throat. 

A lady, suffering under an attack of asthma, seemed to be at the 
last extremity; it was night; a powder was left to be taken at in¬ 
tervals. Said an attendant, “ But what if the powder does not give 
relief ? ” “ It must give relief,” sard the doctor, seeming to mean 

thereby that if she did not get relief she must die. It was 
Dover’s powder, containing opium. It quieted the little cough 
she had, and her suffering increased every moment. The writer 
was called at midnight. Nauseants were given freely; in the 
course of an hour she coughed once ; the next cough was waited 
for with great solicitude ; it came in less than an hour ; by day¬ 
light there were several coughs during the hour, then phlegm 
began to come, and she was saved, dying twenty-five years later of 
a wholly different disease. This is given to impress the mind with 
the importance of cultivating a cough in an asthmatic attack, in¬ 
stead of repressing it. Nothing that eases the patient’s breathing 
in asthma does any real good, but actual and dangerous harm, 
except in so far as it loosens the phlegm, and increases the cough, 
for that cough helps to dislodge the phlegm, to bring it up out of 
the branches of the windpipe, it unplugs them, and to that extent 
makes way for the free passage of the air into and out of the 
lungs, and that is the only true cure. 

Paper is sometimes soaked in water in which saltpetre has been 
dissolved, then dried and burned in the room or made into cigars 


ASTHMA. 


205 


and smoked. The dried leaves of the mullen leaf are sometimes 
smoked, and a great many other remedies are advised from time 
to time ; hut all relief is dangerous, unless it is the result of loosen¬ 
ing phlegm, and increasing cough ; for it is the tough, dry phlegm 
in the lungs and branches of the windpipe which causes the 
agonizing breathing, and gasping, and sense.of impending suffo¬ 
cation in asthma, and nothing can do any real good which does 
not have a tendency to loosen that phlegm and bring it away. 
But after all, the wisest plan in those subject to attacks of asthma is 
not to have an attack, which is easier of prevention than of re¬ 
moval and cure. An attack never comes on of itself; it' is always 
caused by something; these causes are different in different in¬ 
dividuals, and every one who is subject to attacks of asthma, should 
notice for himself what brings them on to him, and this, to him, is 

THE CAUSE OF ASTHMA. 

No attack of ordinary asthma comes on except it is preceded 
by one of three things— 

A cold, 

Constipation, 

Biliousness. 

And as a cold is naturally the cause of the last two, it may be 
safely asserted, that if a person never took cold, even a person 
subject to attacks of asthma, such attacks would not be repeated. 
(See article, “ Checking Perspiration.”) If the principles involved 
in this article were intelligently practised, a cold need not be 
taken for many months together. 

Persons liable to attacks of asthma should make it a point of 
study—of daily practical attention—to watch against constipa¬ 
tion (which article see), and the very hour it is observed that the 
bowels have not acted, means should be taken to secure that ac¬ 
tion, and to keep up a natural, healthful, daily motion. 

If a cold has been taken, means should be adoj3ted within the 
hour to arrest that cold, to cut it short off, and be done with it. 
(See article “ Colds.”) 

If biliousness is present, remove it in the way named in that 
article. Biliousness causes, brings on, aggravates costiveness, and 
colds bring on and aggravate biliousness, which has one never- 


20G 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


absent symptom—no natural appetite; manifesting itself in vari¬ 
ous ways—the appetite is fickle in some, voracious in others * 
while many have not only no appetite, but a positive disrelish, and 
even an aversion to food. Sometimes the whites of the eyes are 
yellow, or there is sickness at stomach ; tongue coated with an 
ugly yellow covering, bad taste in the mouth of mornings, and a 
general feeling of despondency and miserableness. 

This biliousness is caused by a torpid, non-acting liver, which 
calomel pills, or blue mass will rectify. When the liver is thus 
torpid, the blood becomes thicker, more impure, hence attacks of 
asthma are often preceded by symptom^ which give notice of its 
coming, and which, if heeded, would ward off the attack, would 
either modify it greatly, or prevent it altogether ; these symptoms 
are drowsiness, wakefulness, headache, rumbling in the bowels, 
eructations, or other symptoms of indigestion. 

It may be always known that the patient suffering under an 
asthmatic attack is going to get better, if, laying the ear on the 
chest, there is heard a vast multitude of varying little sounds as of 
the singing of a thousand tiny birds, because it shows that the 
phlegm is in various stages of softening at different parts and 
points preparatory to coming away in a short time. 

An attack of ordinary asthma passes off in a few minutes 
sometimes; at others, hours pass before there is any striking relief; 
or it may keep up, at varying intervals, for weeks and months 
even, but most likely to come on between one and three o’clock 
in the morning. 

It may be said truthfully that there is no medicinal cure for 
asthma. It cures consumption,, it keeps it at bay indefinitely 
long; and sometimes it cures itself, that is, it sometimes disappears 
at the changes of li-fe. A child may inherit asthma from a 
parent, and have an attack of it whenever a cold is taken; but at 
the seventh year it often disappears, never to be heard of more, 
especially if pains be taken to expose such children to the out¬ 
door air a great deal every sunshiny day, to dress them loosely 
and warm ; to keep their arms and legs and feet always warmly 
clad, to attend to the daily regulating of the bowels; regular 
eating at home, nothing whatever between the regular meals, early 
retiring to bed, and abundant sleep. 

At the change of life asthmatic women lose their liability to 
their attacks, but nearly always it is because some other more 


ASTHMA. 


207 


dangerous and threatening disease is forming in the system, such 
as internal cancers, ulceration of the womb, and similar maladies. 

Persons sometimes lose their liability to asthmatic attacks on the 
appearance of an ulcerous sore in any part of the body, such as a 
sore leg, a white swelling, or king’s evil. 

Sometimes a severe attack of small-pox breaks up the asthmatic 
tendency for life. The same thing is done in many cases by a 
great change in the daily habits or occupation or callings in life; 
if a merchant becomes a ploughman, a banker a drover, a clerk a 
railway conductor. 

At other times habits of asthma are broken up by a change of 
residence from a flat locality to a mountain top, from a prairie to 
a forest home, from city to country, and the opposite of all these. • 
A London gentleman could always get relief within the hour, by 
going into the country. Sometimes a damp locality, at others a 
dry place of residence breaks up the habit of asthma. 

But in the absence of all these, when a person has become sub¬ 
ject to asthmatic attacks, there is no absolute, permanent cure 
this side the grave, but there is a mode of securing permanent 
exemption from attacks, by avoiding colds, constipation, indiges¬ 
tion,' and biliousness, as before named. 

There is another form of the disease altogether more unmanage¬ 
able ; it is called 

SYMPTOMATIC ASTHMA, 

that is, it is a symptom or sign indicating that the structure of 
the breathing organ has undergone some change for which there 
is no remedy, but in the mode of amelioration already referred to.. 

HEREDITARY ASTHMA 

is the more frequent of all causes; it may come on at any age, or 
it may be brought about by some constricting influence of gases, 
or fog, or smoke. The smell of particular things seems to cause 
an attack. 

Powdered ipecac will bring on all the symptoms of catarrh or 
bronchitis, makes the nose, run, the eyes water, the lids inflamed 
within an hour ; some persons have it in the haying time of 3 cai, 
as if there floated from the hay some perfume or more solid par- 


203 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR* 


tides, calculated to bring on an attack, causing the common peo¬ 
ple to give it the name of 

HAY ASTHMA, 

but it may be observed that if such persons, at the specified time 
of year, will go to a place where a blade of hay never grew, the 
attack comes on all the same. 

There is a feeling instilled, brought down to us from childhood, 
that it is natural to be sick once a year. Our mothers used to 
give us various unwelcome doses in the spring; one would give 
us sassafras tea, another egg-shells pulverized and mixed with 
honey. Still, it is true that different persons become ailing at cer¬ 
tain seasons of the year, some early in the spring, others later in 
May or June, while a third with a more vigorous constitution may 
keep the enemy at bay, and does not become bilious until August 
or haying time ; and when a man is bilious, he is a hundred-fold 
more susceptible to cold from slight causes than when he is not 
bilious, a cold is taken at last and settles at once in the eyes and 
nose, with everlasting waterings and sneezings and nose-wipings, 
keeping one person all the time busy in washing pocket-handker¬ 
chiefs. But suppose such a person, although a sufferer for twen¬ 
ty years, should, at that particular season or a little before, be 
called to some great change in life, to some great trouble, to some 
absorbing enterprise involving incessant and laborious travel day 
and night, by rail, steamboat, stage, horseback, footways, over un¬ 
trodden hills, and dangerous valleys and impenetrable wilder¬ 
nesses, it is pretty certain that there would be no attack of hay asth¬ 
ma that year anyhow, simply because these unaccustomed exertions 
worked all the extra bile out of the system, and by giving a good 
appetite, a vigorous digestion and glorious sleep, a newer and 
purer blood has been supplied, dashing through the remotest 
veins with a power and life which repels all disease and has made 
the man over again. 

Whatever may be the immediately exciting cause of an attack 
of asthma, there is in the constitution a tendency to asthma, 
either hereditary or acquired, just as there is in some persons a 
tendency to take cold, or a tendency to biliousness, implying that 
there exists a bilious constitution, an asthmatic constitution. 
Whether the attacks come on in the early morning, for a day or 


ASTHMA. 


209 


two or more, and may not come again for weeks or months, as in 
ordinary asthma, or whether it be dyspeptic asthma, arising from 
an attack of indigestion as a result of over-eating, or injudicious 
feeding; or from costiveness, or from simple nervousness, the 
sufferer should observe what is the cause of an attack,—for 
asthma can never come on without a cause,—and then make it a 
point, habitually, systematically, persistently to watch against 
those causes, then by greater and greater care, a longer and longer 
time may elapse between the attacks, until the habit of attack 
may be broken up and the person may thus “ grow out of it.’ 5 

But if the whole study is to find out what will merely give re¬ 
lief during an attack, and call that a “cure,” the susceptibility 
will increase ; the attacks will become more and more frequent, 
until existence is nothing more nor less than a protracted agony.' 
It is greatly better to turn all the energies towards preventing at¬ 
tacks, guarding against the cause of them. The causes of asthma 
are very capricious; some things bring it on in one man, and the 
same things remove it in another. But wherever a man is most 
exempt from it, that is the place for him to live. A habit of life 
or an emotion may bring on an attack; one man is relieved by 
sleeping near the ground, another by having his bed in the garret 
or highest room in the house. Sometimes sleeping on the north 
side of the house, where no sunshine comes into the room, invites 
an asthmatic attack, when removal to a southern exposure, dry¬ 
ing, warming and purifying the air, causes it to disappear as if by 


magic. 

Some persons have hay fever, or asthmatic attacks, regularly 
once a year, the same month, same day, and almost the same 
hour. Now and then such attacks may be escaped by snuffing up 
into the nostrils, several times a day, a “saturated solution 55 of 
common sulphate of quinine; but this endangers some more 
critical internal suffering. But if there be some urgent necessity 
for this expedient, the precaution should be taken to take some 
medicine at the same time which will act freely on the bowels, so 
as to carry off those matters in that direction, which nature was 
seeking to carry off through the nose, but which were officiously 
repelled and driven inwards. 

Also keep the bowels acting freely, eat plainly, temperately, 
and regularly, while using any means to ameliorate an attack, 
■whether by smoking the leaves of stramonium, which some call 


14 


210 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


thorn-apple, others Jamestown weed, by the use of chloral, or 
laughing gas, musk, or hyoscyamus, or any of the hundred and one 
remedies called “cures,” when they only alleviate, and even that 
at-the expense, many times, of greater evils in another direction. 

In consumption we cannot get air enough in the lungs to sus¬ 
tain life ; in asthma we cannot get enough out, and what is in must 
get out before any more fresh air can get in. There is a great 
nerve, one branch of which goes to the stomach, another to the 
lungs and throat, and if that nerve is irritated or becomes diseased 
at a point before the branching takes place, the ill effect may be 
felt in the stomach, or it may be felt in the lungs, or in both 
places. One effect of the irritation of this nerve, called “pneu- 
mogastric,” or lung-stomacli nerve, is to contract the lungs, to les¬ 
sen their capacity, so that the air cannot get out with natural 
rapidity, causing a terrible feeling of tightness across the chest in 
the act of breathing, especially in expiration, breathing out. 
Under this effect of irritation, the lungs contract like a squeezed 
sponge, and as long as that contraction is present, the difficult 
breathing of asthma continues. 

Violent coughing or excessive laughter is accomplished by 
driving air out of the lungs, and these, in persons subject to 
asthma; sometimes bring on an attack, because the air is so nearly 
exhausted that the lungs have lost their spring, as it were—their 
power to expand—that is “ constriction ; ” hence persons have died 
from fits of coughing and from excessive laughter; the lungs lost 
their power of distention, no air could get in or out, and there 
was strangulation. 

Whatever tends to relax, tends to relieve this form of asthma; 
•nauseating medicines relax; a bleeding from the arm will relax ; 
the vapors of various vegetable substances, as before stated, will 
relax, such as the fumes of saltpetred paper, or tobacco, or stra¬ 
monium—which is the thorn-apple, or Jamestown weed; but 
none vff these are curative, they merely give present relief. It is 
because the irritation of the stomach-branch of the nerve is occa¬ 
sioned sometimes by indigestion, that over-eating, or eating some¬ 
thing which is indigestible, may affect the lung-branch of it, and 
give a tickling in the throat, or a cough, or difficult breathing. 
Hence it is, too, that consumptives and other persons sometimes 
eat a late, hearty supper, go to bed, begin to cough, and cough 
for hours together; at last vomiting comes on, the whole meal is 


ASTHMA. 


211 


thrown up, the stomach is emptied, sleep comes within a few min¬ 
utes, to he continued until the morning. 

Many a troublesome cough, after getting into bed, is modified 
the ' next night by taking little or no supper, or, to be more 
specific, take only a cup of hot drink and some cold bread and 
butter. For it may sometimes happen, that if nothing is eaten, 
there may be such a feeling of hunger as to prevent refreshing sleep, 
or a feeling of debility may be induced, which may aid the nervous 
affection, in away to increase or continue the contraction of asthma. 

It is clear, then, why so many things, vastly different, benefit or 
relieve asthma; for if the attack comes from the stomach-branch 
of the nerve, medicines addressed” to the stomach will do good ; -if 
the lung branch is affected, then applications made to the lungs, 
or the nervous system, or remedies which affect these, as fumes, 
smokes, etc., will do good. 

If a gouty person has asthmatic attacks, relief is to be found in . 
the use of arsenical preparations, sulphur, iodide of potash, and other 
alkalies. But in all forms of asthma, permanent relief and an 
indefinite postponement of attacks must be looked for only in the 
use of remedies which keep the liver in healthful action, and re¬ 
gulate the bowels to a free and full daily motion, adding thereto 
an avoidance of colds. 

The homoeopathic remedies are ipecacuanha, when there is con¬ 
striction ; arsenicum, when in great distress for breath ; bryonia, 
when towards morning there is difficulty in breathing, with cough, 
more or less dry and ineffectual; nux vomica, when there is great 
tightness; pulsatilla, if there is constriction, or ratling in the 
chest; antimonium tart., if a great deal of phlegm comes up. 

- C&2 - 

SPITTING BLOOD 

Is always observed with a shock to the whole system, as if it were 
the knell of death, which it nearly always is as to men. In 
women it is rarely observed except in connection with some form 
of suppression ; then it is a vicarious action, and always does good ; 
it is Nature endeavoring to get rid of a surplus in another than 

natural way. 

When a man spits blood, there is an amazing tendency to at¬ 
tribute it to any other cause than the real one; that it is from the 




212 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


throat; that it is from the gums, that it came clown from the head, 
or from a defective tooth, or from the stomach. In rare cases it 
does come from some of these sources; hut in nine cases out of ten 
it would not he just to the reader to allow an impression so wide 
of the truth. In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, the man who 
spits up a very few drops of bright-red blood, either clear or 
mixed with phlegm or saliva, is in the forming stages of con¬ 
sumptive disease, and will certainly die of it, within three years, 
on an average, unless he changes the whole course of his life to 
an active out-door occupation, which will keep him out of doors 
•in the open air for a great part of all of daylight. The very 
celebrated writer 1ST. P. Willis was attacked with -severe 

HEMORRHAGE OF THE LUNGS. 

With great judgment and decision lie immediately went to the 
country, purchased some wild land which nobody seemed to think 
worth anything, but which, in his far-seeing eye, could be made 
one of the most beautiful places on the Continent. lie sat down 
and built him 

IDLEWILD, 

on the Hudson, now so notable. By means of personal supervi¬ 
sion and horseback exercise daily, and frequent going back and 
forth between his beautiful home and Hew York, sixty miles 
away, he managed to protract his life many long years, although. 
during the time he had a number of alarming bleedings, a pint or 
more at a time. Let it be noted that on every occasion of. his be¬ 
ing induced by friendly counsels to try this, that, and the other, 
that was never known to hurt any one, but on the contrary had 
been known to effect very remarkable cures, he not only failed to 
derive any benefit, but in several cases nearly killed himself; but 
promptly recuperated when lie relied exclusively on out-door air, 
the saddle, and abundance of plain, nutritious food, at regular 
times. These statements are made at length to impress the reader 
with the importance to health and life, to steadily resist all advice 
from other than educated medical men of acknowledged repute 
and of .high standing among the people with whom they have 
lived for some years. Always inquire if the wonderful cure was 
the case of a woman; if so, it will certainly do a man no good, 


















































































































































































































































4 








SPITTING BLOOD. 


213 


because the woman’s bleeding was vicarious, and stopped of itself 
as soon as the system was relieved of its burden. 

Besides, bleeding is a positive benefit when the lungs are affect¬ 
ed in all cases, and unless it is beyond a tablespoonful, should 
not be arrested, if it could be done, for it is a great benefit to the 
lungs. It gives freer breathing, and is a very great relief to the 
cough; it is a known fact that persons who are consumptive, 
and have frequent little bleedings, live several years longer on an 
average, and do not cough half as much as those who do not bleed 
at all. 

When a bleeding is excessive, or the patient becomes nervous 
or excited, the best plan is to go to bed, or lie down on a sofa and 
eat common salt freely; this excites thirst in the interior vessels, or 
in some way absorbs or attracts the more watery particles of the 
blood, thus diminishing its bulk and thereby relieves the over-dis¬ 
tended blood-vessels in the lungs, which were pouring it out be¬ 
cause they were too full to hold it. 

Twenty grains of alum, dissolved in a teacup of water, taken 
every two hours, a swallow or two at a time, has been efficient. 

Many other things are advised which do good by amusing the 
patient by doing something, but it is most probable that nothing 
taken has any effect towards stopping the bleeding; besides, if the 
blood is in among the lungs, when it has once left the blood-vessels, 
it is better out than in, immeasurably better. 

The reason that spitting of blood, with a pulse uniformly above 
eighty beats in a minute, is an indication of consumption of the 
lungs, is, that there is congestion, that is, the small blood-vessels are 
“filled t6 overflowing” with blood, so full, that more being 
forced in, by every beat of the heart, the delicate sides of these 
channels or canals burst, and the blood pours out among the lungs, 
causing that same kind of a tickling in the throat occasioned by 
a little water or crumb going the wrong way, that is, passing down 
the windpipe into the lungs instead of down the throat into the 
stomach. These small blood-vessels are thus overcharged with 
blood, because it is obstructed ; it not only is thick with impurities, 
and thus does not flow freely, but there are tubercles in the lungs, 
little lumps of a hard growth the size of a pin-head, more or less, 
and they, pressing against the yielding side of a vein, very natu¬ 
rally diminish-the internal calibre, thus intercepting the flow. 

When consumptive persons spit larger quantities, of a table- 


214 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR 


spoon or more to half a pint, it is because these tubercles are 
softening, decaying, and in that decay eat into the lungs as mice- 
eat into a cheese; when a large blood-vessel is come to, it also is 
eaten into, as a rat eats into a lead pipe, and the contents escape; 
but, inasmuch as this escaped blood in among the lungs, if kept 
there, would soon occasion a dangerous inflammation, it must come 
away; hence the only thing to be done is to cough it up until 
i’t is all got rid of; but prevent any more from leaking out into 
the congested blood-vessels, by diminishing the amount of blood 
in the use of salt, as before named. In this connection it may be 
stated that cases are given in medical books where persons appear¬ 
ing to be consumptive have taken a great fancy to eat salt, would 
carry it in their vest-pocket, and take it a pinch at a time during 
the day, as much as a tablespoonful or more .a day; and of others 
who by force of circumstances were compelled to live on salted 
food altogether for some weeks, having been cast away at sea in 
open boats. In these cases, the good effects of breathing a pure 
air night and day, and not having the opportunity of over-eating, 
ought to have credit for a part of the improvement in health. 

In one case of protracted bleeding at the lungs the bleeding 
ceased by forcibly drawing into the lungs every hour half a tea¬ 
spoonful of the impalpable powder of persulphate of iron, but 
then the bleeding might have stopped without the powder. 

The homoeopathic remedies are pulsatilla and sulphur. If the 
blood is of a bright red, rhus; and if continued, acid sulph. In 
very severe cases, arsenicum is used ; nux vomica to the intem¬ 
perate ; and to restore the strength, china is the best remedy, with 
quietude of body and mind. 

- <U7it - 

BITES AND STINGS 

Of all animals and insects which are considered poisonous, injure 
the system by their acid character. The remedy is to apply an 
alkali; the strongest known is hartshorn; hence bathe the part with 
it as soon as possible; the best way is to use a soft rag or sponge 
in the way denominated- dabbling; keep applying it all the time 
until discomfort ceases, and in addition saturate a linen cloth of 




HYDROPHOBIA. 


215 


four or live thicknesses, lay it over the wound ; lay a larger piece 
of silk or india-rubber over the linen, or another dry cloth, so as 
prevent evaporation. If no hartshorn is at hand, pour boiling 
water on a pint of wood ashes, stir it, let it settle, and as soon as 
cool enough apply as above, this product being an alkali. Ben¬ 
zine is also good. As these are remedies always at hand, and as 
the principle of cure is to antagonize an acid with an alkali, this 
may be considered applicable to every form of bite or sting from 
any animal or insect known, snakes and mad do^s included. Yet 
strong acids are also available sometimes, as will be seen. 

The cobra of'.India kills in a few minutes by its bite. A few 
drops of its gall is said to be an instantaneous cure ; as also for 
other snake-bites less terribly fatal. Possibly the gall of any poi¬ 
sonous creature would be an antidote to its poison ; possibly of a 
mad dog also, if he could be caught and cut open soon enough, 
and thus prevent 


HYDROPHOBIA, 


which means literally a fear of water; there seems to be an in¬ 
stinctive shuddering at the very sight of it sometimes. This ter¬ 
rible malady follows the bites of cats, and other animals at times, 
but the disease does not follow a bite necessarily. The great Dr. 
John Hunter found that the bite proves poisonous in one case in 
twenty ; that is, if a mad dog bites twenty persons, only one on an 
average will become hydrophobic, showing that there must be a 
certain condition of the system which makes it susceptible of 
the poison, and if that condition is not present, the poison will 
not take. Hence the numberless reported cures for the dis¬ 
ease. If one only of Hunter’s twenty men had died, and nine¬ 
teen different remedies had been applied to the other nineteen 
persons, each of these remedies would be published by the persons 
using them as a certain preventive and cure of hydrophobia, such 
as large draughts of whiskey. A bite on the hand or face, 
a mere scratch may take, effect, when a bite through the clothing 
down to the bone might not, the poison being wiped off by the 
clothing or absorbed by it. A good plan would be to wash the 
part with brown or black soap and water, make the suds very 
strong indeed, the soap, by the way, being made of the alkali, the 
lye or leigh of wood-aslies, may antagonize the poison, if applied 


216 


nALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


instantly. It is said that if a vaccined arm is well washed at the 
point of vaccination within half an hour after the operation, it will 
not take. It will be more efficient to rub a stick of caustic potash 
on the bite, or rather sharpen it and run it down into the wound 
made by the tooth, hold it there for fifteen or twenty seconds, how¬ 
ever it may hurt. 

The nitrate of silver or lunar caustic has been recommended; if 
none at hand, drop a little aquafortis into the place of the bite, or 
paint it over a scratch or abrasion with a pencil or bit of wood, the 
end of which has been chewed a little to make the fibres brushlike. 

It is unquestionably true that hydrophobia is also a disease of 
the imagination; hence if a person is bitten by a dog, imagined 
to be mad, he would have the disease, but if it was ascertained 
satisfactorily that lie was. not mad, the disease w r ould not be mani¬ 
fested ; hence by no means kill a dog which has bitten a person. 
On the contrary, confine, him in a room, out of which he cannot 
get; leave him to quiet, repose, and sleep; after a few hours put 
something in the room quietly which he can eat, then introduce a 
pan of milk or water, do this from day to day; if he was really 
mad he will certainly die within a week, if not mad he will get well. 

The author knew a case where a friend’s gardener was bitten 
by a dog. A year later the gardener was informed by a neigh¬ 
boring servant that a dog had bit a person a day or two before, 
and that after suffering terribly the person died. The gardener 
carried his hand to the part which had been bitten a ‘year before, 
exclaimed that it hurt him, and making a noise something like a 
bark, so described,-he w r ent to his room and died within a few 
days, with the ordinary convulsions and terrible sufferings of 
those who are the victims of the malady. 

A person not having a sore on the lip or tongue could suck a 
wound, and if it were full of poison and went into the stomach it 
could not injure, and might save the bitten man. In fact persons bit¬ 
ten, who have sucked the wounds themselves, have escaped madness. 
f Several weeks may pass after the bite, which may have healed 
over, leaving' only a little pimple or pustule; if it becomes in the 
very slightest degree painful, it is on the point of disseminating 
the poison through the system; if at that time, or any time be¬ 
fore, a piece of caustic nitrate of silver is introduced and held 
there, it is believed to be a certain preventive of the malady, and 
can be implicitly relied upon. 


DEATH-RATE AND SICKNESS. 


217 


THE MAD STONE 

is said to be a sure cure for a mad-dog bite, if pressed firmly on 
the wounded part for a few moments and allowed to remain until 
it falls. There are several of these in different parts of the coun¬ 
try ; they are of diferent sizes, shapes, and colors, but they 
• are all porous, and are thus capable of absorbing or sucking 
any liquid like a sponge ; such a thing is possible as their ab¬ 
sorbing the poison. It ought to be tried whenever possible. 
IIomceop>athy advises for liydropfiiobia excision, or the appli¬ 
cation of a red-hot iron, or live coal, or cigar, whichever can be 
most instantaneously applied over as small a surface as possible, 
merely to the point of the wound; keep oil or grease or saliva 
around the wound to protect the skin from any loose virus. If 
after a week a vesicle should appear under the tongue, open it 
and rinse the mouth well with milk or water, meanwhile admin- 
ister belladonna, lachesis; or if there are convulsions, hyoscy- 
amus; stramonium, if- the eye becomes fixed and brilliant, and a 
vapor bath of a hundred and six degrees, especially during con¬ 
vulsions, and until they cease. In insect bites camphor, aconite, 
and arnica applied to the wound are favorite remedies. 


-C<7D- 

DEATH-RATE AND SICKNESS. 

The healthiest people in the world, of which there is a statis¬ 
tical record, are the Orkney Islanders, where the Shetland ponies 
come from, off the north coast of Scotland, in latitude 59° 
north. Of 1,000 men, women, and children, 12 die every year. 
With this as a starting-point, the intelligent reader will be greatly 
interested to know the death-rate of the principal cities of the 
world, by which it will be seen that figures make New Tork 
City and Montreal, Canada, the sickliest cities in the world in the 
year 1S70. New York ought to be among the very healthiest of 
the larger cities of the globe, because it lies in the fork of tv o 
rivers which empty into the sea, while Broadway leads, into 
Fifth avenue at Twenty-third street on a ridge, declining 
towards the rivers, thus allowing the rains to give a good 




218 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


washing at every shower; but these advantages are inore than 
antagonized by so many people living in cellars, and a still 
larger number crowded into single houses, instead of each family 
occupying a house to itself as ought to be the case. Nearly one- 
half of the population of New York lives in tenement-houses,— 
that is, houses in which several families live,—in some of them 
there are scores of families. Over seventy-five per cent, of the 
deaths are among the tenement population. Where one person 
dies in a house on Fifth avenue, Madison avenue, or along the 
line of the broad streets, such as Thirty-fourth, three die in 
houses in which more than one family lives. These statements 
are made to admonish the reader that it is healthier to live in a 
two-roomed cabin of his own than in a brown-stone with others. 
On the same principle, the larger the rooms of a building, 
and especially the chambers, which should be the- most commo¬ 
dious in the house, the healthier will be the occupants. And yet 
there is a very general impression that any room is good enough 
to sleep in, however small. 



Population. 

Deaths, 1870. 

Death-Rate 
per 1000. 

New York... 

... 942,252 

27,175 

28.8 

Philadelphia. 

... 674,022 

15,317 

22.72 

Brooklyn. 

... 396,105 

9,546 

24. 

St. Louis.. 

... 312,963 

6,670 

21.3 

Chicago.. 

... 299,319 

7,342 

24.5 

Baltimore. 

... 283,070 

7,262 

25.65 

Boston. 

... 250,526 

6,098 

24.33 

Cincinnati.. 

... 216,239 

3,978 

18.39 

New Orleans.. 

... 191,512 

6,942 

27.58 

San Francisco.. 

... 150,351 

3,293 

21.57 

Montreal. 

,.. 127,826 

3,994 

31.5 

London. 

..3,214,707 

77,278 

24. 

Bombay. 

... 816,562 

14,888 ' 

18.2 

Vienna... 

... 622,087 

18,518 

29.8 

Liverpool... 


16,094 

31.1 

Manchester. 

... 374,993 

10,428 

27.8 

Edinburgh.. 

... 178,970 

4,706 

26.3 

Paris. 

. 2,000,000 

42,900 


in the same connection 

it may be interesting to 

know what are 

the most fatal diseases in a 

great city ; 

in New Yoi 

•k, for example, 

for one single quarter of a 

year, from 

January 1st 

, IS72, to April 


. 1st, 1872:— 





















DEATH-RATE AND SICKNESS. 

219 

Spotted fever. 

.... 69 

Small-pox. 

. 320 

Typhoid. 

.... 96 

Developmental.. .. 

. 477 

Measles.. 


Consumption. 

. 1,155 

Diarrhoea. 

.... 227 

Other lung diseases. 

. 1,256 

Whooping-cough. 

.... 247 

Constitutional. 

. 1,652 

Diphtheria and Croup. 

.... 294 

Zymotic._. 

. 2,009 

Scarlatina. 

.... 301 

Local. 

. 3,005 


In England for every person who dies in a year, twenty-eight 
are sick, equal to two years’ sickness of one person. 

Taking the whole population of England and the United States, 
town and country, the death-rate of England is twenty-two in 
every thousand each year ; of the United States, twenty-four. 

It is certainly true, at a very low estimate, to say that not half 
as many should die as do; not half as many should be sick—that 
is, half'the sickness and death in the land is avoidable, could be 
prevented if the people could be induced to act wisely as to eating, 
drinking, exercise, sleep, and rest. 

MORTALITY. 

A comparison of the bills of mortality of Paris, London, and 
New York, for a single week in May, gives the following result: 

With a population of 3,251,800, the British metropolitan dis¬ 
trict counts for 1,268 deaths; with a population of 1,980,000, 
Paris shows the record of 812 ; and with a population of 942,300, 
New York has 646 deaths. These figures show an alarming pre¬ 
ponderance of the death-rate in the American metropolis over the 
two great cities of Europe. During the week ending May 18th, 
39 people died in London out of every 100,000 of the population. 
During the w r eek ending May 25th, 42 people died in Paris out 
of every 100,000; and during the same week the rate in New 
York was 68 deaths out of every 100,000. 
















220 


HALLS FAMILY LOCTOR. 


CONSUMPTION. 



One is a bronchi, or branch of the windpipe, growing smaller at 
each division until they are not larger than a hair, but are hollow, 
and through them the air is conveyed to 2, 2, which are the air- 
cells or the actual lungs, as buds are at the extreme ends of the 
twigs. The air comes into these cells or little bladders loaded 
with its proper amount of oxygen, then returns, leaving all its 
oxygen behind to purify the blood, taking out, however, in the 
place of this oxygen, carbonic acid, or the useless, waste, or poi¬ 
sonous matters which the blood washed out before it as it came 
from all parts of the body through the veins into the heart, which 
sent it to the lungs. 

Nearly three hundred cubic feet of air goes into the lungs of 
a good-sized man every day, and comes out again, leaving in the 
lungs thirty-seven ounces of oxygen, nearly two pounds and a 
half, and taking out of the blood fourteen ounces of carbon, 
nearly one pound, this carbon being made up of the wastes of the 
system. Let it be noted here, how infinite is the importance of 
breathing a pure atmosphere; as every breath carries in more life, 
every breath brings out less death, for if the air is loaded with 
impurities when it goes in, it not only has that much less of oxy¬ 
gen, but, in a sense, has that much less capacity to bring outside 
cf the body the impurities which were in the lungs; thus is the 
breathing of a pure air doubly healthy, and the breathing of an 
impure air doubly deathly. In a common breath we take in a 
pint of air, or twenty cubic inches at a time, although the lungs 
of a middle-sized man will hold twelve pints, or a gallon and a 
half ; hence the lungs are nearly full of air all the time, and it is 


CONSUMPTION. 


221 


tills residuary air wliich keeps us alive if breathing is prevented 
for a minute or so, as in suffocation from drowning or smoke or 
other causes. 

The bronchial tubes are the seat of bronchitis, which is inflamma¬ 
tion of these tubes, as is a common cold, which, continued for 
months, becomes bronchitis. The cells or little bladders which 
hold the air in the lungs brought to them through the bronchial 
tubes, they being supplied from the windpipe, are the seat of 

consumption,- 

which destroys them as mice eat into a cheese; the cells being de* 
stroved, there is less room for air ; hence the infallible result that 
in all cases of consumption the breathing is shorter and shorter, 
becomes more and more difficult. It is easy to see, then, that as 
in consumption the less air the lungs receive, the more important 
is it that it should be the purest possible; hence the fundamental 
truth in the treatment of every case of consumption, the chance 
of cure is increased in proportion as the person is out of doors, day 
and nifflit, and in all weathers. Thus it is that in the most re- 
markable cases of recovery from consumption, the parties were 
exposed to the out-door air in all weathers and at all times of the 
day or night. Hence it has been repeatedly found that a con¬ 
sumptive going to sea as a cabin passenger dies ; while the same 
man, who would take a whaling voyage round the Capes to the 
most northern latitudes, as a common sailor, for a three or four 
years’ cruise, gets well; and so with consumptives who take long 
journeys on horseback, get well. See the author’s book on 
u Coughs and Colds.” 

Consumption sometimes cures itself spontaneously, as does can¬ 
cer. It is cured at other times by pregnancy. Persons also re¬ 
cover by some running sore breaking out in some part of the body 
spontaneously, although an artificial sore made by a seton or is¬ 
sue always fails of any permanent good effect in real consump¬ 
tion. On the same principle, if any permanent rash or tetter 
breaks out on the skin in consumption, the disease is either cured 
or is indefinitely postponed. 

In June, 1848, a merchant aged twenty-five called on the author 
in New Orleans; measure six feet, best weight 1G0 pounds, then 
118; pulse 100 a minute, breathing 25 ; drenching night-sweats, 


222 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


constant cough, with an incessant pain at the hinder part of one 
lung, which prevented him from lying down in any natural po¬ 
sition. He had piles badly. lie literally staggered when lie at¬ 
tempted to cross the floor. lie was ajdvised to go to Canada at 
once, and practise horseback-riding extensively. By extraordinary 
exposures in going up the Mississippi river he became rapidly 
worse, but he pushed on to Canada; on reaching there a leg was 
fractured by the kick of a horse. With the views of other phy¬ 
sicians that it was a hopeless case of consumption, and that he 
could not live six months, he wrote: “ I hope to spend the few 
days I shall live out here in making a perfect preparation for 
that place where our state is invariably and forever fixed.” 

But he began to improve, and twenty-four years later, to wit, 
in June, 1872, he called oil the author in Broadway, Hew York, 
on a trip of pleasure to his native Scotland. Age, 52 ; pulse, 76 ; 
weight, 152. His lung measure, or vital capacity, in 1818 was 172 
cubic inches; in 1872 was 250 ; he had got a wife, eight children, 
all living:, and had made a fortune besides. 

He stated that his health was best when a rash was most 
extensive, which had been coming out upon him at intervals 
for the last five years. Ilen.ce hopeless cases of consumption 
do sometimes recover by keeping up the general health as 
directed in that article, and living largely out of doors. It is 
the belief of educated medical men throughout the world, that 
the medicine is yet to be found which has any curative effect 
in common consumption of the lungs, although almost every 
vear finds a new cure and loses an old one. most of them 

%j j 

failing to survive a few months’ trial. 

With these views it only remains to ascertain the signs by 
which a man of. ordinary intelligence may ascertain for himself, 
with reasonable certainty. 

Consumption generally comes on with a slight dry cough in 
the morning, then on going to bed, getting more and more fre- 
cpient, with more and more phlegm to the last. 

If any one has a cough, more or less, on retiring and rising, 
with an increasing debility, thinness of flesh, shortness of breath 
and quickening pulse, that is consumption always; but if there 
are occasional bleedings from the lungs, that keeps down the 
pulse, even to its natural standard sometimes. A natural pulse 
averages seventy beats of the heart in a minute; as the consump- 



AILMENTS DURING GESTATION. 


223 


tive gets worse the pulse goes up to eighty, ninety, a hundred, a 
hundred and ten, a hundred and twenty, and he dies. A daily 
cough with a pulse almost always among the nineties and over, 
with steady falling away in flesh, is to all intents, a proof 
. of the latter stages of consumption. Hence any one may safely 
conclude that consumption is steadily progressing with an increase 
of pulse, debility, short breath, and falling away. 

Let the reader feel assured that the essential elements of 
cure in consumption are always a vigorous digestion and an 
active out-door life; without these no human means have ever 
availed; with them, permanent cures are effected. 




AILMENTS DURING GESTATION. 

It- is of great importance to avoid medicine as much as possible 
during pregnancy; therefore endeavor to relieve the varied ail¬ 
ments by external appliances and natural means. 

Breathing is sometimes oppressed; if from a full stomach, 
especially after eating, eat less and keep bowels free; if from 
other causes cultivate quietude, avoid fast work or strains, or 
heavy lifting; let all bodily motions be deliberate. 

Cramps; rub the limb with a cold wet cloth, and then apply 
vigorous and hard friction until the pain ceases. 

Constipation: use castor-oil, as named under that heading, or 
enemas, provided the use of fruits, berries, and cracked wheat as 
the chief items of food have failed. 

Convulsions: use warm bath, enemas, and frictions, and avoid 
their return by the use of the special fruit diet, so as to keep the 
bowels acting every day. 

Diarrhoea; hip-baths, enemas of cold water, and a diet of boiled 
rice and milk chiefly; walk as little’as possible, keep on a sofa or 
bed, and have the abdomen bound around with a woollen bandage 
fourteen inches wide. 

Heartburn arises from taking too much food, gives cold feet and 
constipation; keep the bowels free, eat regularly, and in great 




224 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


moderation of such plain nourishing food, in such small amounts 
as will not he followed by acidity. 

Headaches arise almost always from cold feet, costiveness, or 
over-eating. If it is sick headache, carry out the same plan, only 
take a thorough warm-water emetic. 

Longings: gratify them when practicable; but it is better to 
divert the mind, and regulate the eating to a special fruit diet, 
regular bowels, and more time in the open air. 

Morning sickness : take nothing at all for supper but a cup of 
tea or some coarse- dry,bread, not both of these but one of them ; 
notice which most abates the sickness; or take nothing later than 
four p.m. 

Pain -in the side: see that the bowels are free, feet warm ; then 
use compresses bound on the side, covered with oiled silk, and 
renew until relieved. Sometimes warm fomentations are bettor. 
Use a special fruit diet. 

Piles are sometimes very troublesome; keep the bowels free ; 
use cold injections after each stool, and sitz-batlis two or three 
times a day of the most agreeable temperature. 

Pains in the breasts: if the pain is steady use cold cloths, fre¬ 
quently renewed; if irregular and darting, employ warm fomen¬ 
tations. 

Pruritus, excessive itching about the organs of reproduction : 
use cold injections; sometimes warm are more efficient and 
agreeable. 

Sleeplessness: soothe the system by hip-baths ; if the head is 
hot apply cold cloths, and keep the feet warm; eat less, live on a 
special fruit diet, and avoid sleejDing in the afternoon. 

Sick headache : if a fruit diet does not remove it, with warm 
feet and regular bowels, take a liver pill. 

Toothache is almost always neuralgia, and is removed by warm 
feet, open bowels, and a fruit diet for a few days, and an hour or 
two out of doors. 

Urination: if frecpient and scant, drink lemonade freely, or 
buttermilk when thirsty, or flaxseed tea made into a lemonade. 
If there is actual retention, a catheter should be used; if it cannot 
be overcome by warm foot-baths, use cold hip-baths. 

Vomiting is sometimes very troublesome during pregnancy, 
generally due to over-eating. If the bowels are free, and feet 
warm, live on fruits, berries, fresh or stewed, and coarse breads 


MARRYIEG WELL. 


225 


for a few days; if not relieved, take a liver pill. Sometimes 
drinking ice-cold water freely is beneficial. 

Varicose, veins: take moderate exercise, fruit diet, and free 
bowels, or apply a judicious bandage. 

Ventilation is second to nothing else in preserving the health 
and lives of infants, hence it ought to be the constant study of 
every intelligent and conscientious mother; it should be a sub¬ 
ject of watchful care for every hour of the day, and should be 
provided for during the night, the last thing before retiring. 
A canary-bird will die before the morning if hung up in a cur¬ 
tained bed where two persons are sleeping. At all seasons of the 
year let the fire-place be open day and night where an infant 
lives and sleeps ; let some fresh air be all the time coming in at 
an inner door or outer window. Without an abundant supply of 
out-door air no infant can live ; for want of it, multitudes perish 
every year. 

A mother should never nurse her child within an hour of any 
great mental excitement of fear, alarm, anxiety, anger, indignation 
or excessive nervousness, for the tendency-is to throw the child 
into convulsions. Household solicitudes and responsibilities, con¬ 
tinued from day to day, rob the mother’s milk of its nutriment, 
and gives the infant diarrhoea and wasting, and if persisted in, 
death will follow. 


- <xx> - 

M A BUYING WELL. 

A real wife is a “ lielp-meet,” an assistant suitable for her hus¬ 
band ; a woman who adapts herself to the situation, circumstan¬ 
ces, and position of the man who has engaged to provide her with 
a house and home, and to defend and protect her until she dies. It 
would not be just to say that no girl educated in a boarding-school 
ever became a good wife ; but that boarding-school girls, as a class, 
make the worst of wives, is the impression of many a poor fellow, 
who has had experience in that direction. 

The very first care of a young man who is about to marry, 
should be to select a woman of vigorous health, from among those 
of his own religion, of his own neighborhood, and of his own 
grade, in society.. If he is of no account, he deserves nothing 
15 




220 


nALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


higher; if lie is of sterling worth, lie will elevate her from that 
hour toward the position which he himself merits, with the hap¬ 
py result, that as ho rises she will rise with him, become proud of 
him, while he will have reason to be proud of himself, and in 
time will carry with him that presence and that bearing which be¬ 
long to the self-reliant and to those who have a consciousness of 

ability and moral worth. 

An important advantage in marrying from among one’s neigh¬ 
bors is, that each party knows the social u status of the othei in 
a manner more perfect .than is otherwise possible, and thus will 
all impositions be avoided; for there are multitudes of persons 
wdiose inveterate aim is to impress those wdiom they have married 
with the idea of their position, their birth, and their blood, the 
more so as these are all questionable. The truly well-born never 
speak of these things voluntarily. It is not likely that William 
B. Astor or the Duke of Devonshire would proffer to any man the 
information that he was rich. A lady does not dress in violent 
colors ; her maid monopolizes these. 

To enjoy religion more and more as w T e get older is the true 
ambition, aim, and end of life ; to do this to the fullest extent, 
there should be as few points of divergence and diversion as pos¬ 
sible, wdiether in sentiment, in habit, or in practice. It is a swrnet 
thin 2 : in declining years for husband and wdfe to sit together and 
read and sins* and listen to the hymns which were familiar to 
them from childhood; to talk about the same ministers, the mem¬ 
bers of the same church, of mutual friends and neighbors, and 
of common schoolmates. The truth is, the more turn old people 
have in common, the sweeter wall be their intercommunions until 
'they die. With considerable opportunities of observation over 
many degrees of latitude and longitude, the impression has been 
deepening for many years, that for domestic peace and happiness, 
and for the luscious communings of pious hearts, it is best, as a 
very general rule, the exceptions being rare, that the young should 
marry in their own neighborhood, their own circle, their owm 
church, and their own State. A Southerner wall always despise 
what is called the “ picayunishness ” of the North; while the free 
and hearty abandon of the South, the Northerner can never rec¬ 
oncile himself to. The North is a precise old maid. The South 
is a reckless dare-devil. The North has not the power of accom¬ 
modation. The South has wonderful facilities of adaptation. 


MARRYING WELL. 


227 


The Northerner must have everything just so, or he is in a living 
purgatory. The Southerner readily conforms himself to privation 
and laughs at what a Northerner would cry over. Within a year 
a young lady of Brooklyn picked up a foreign husband at New¬ 
port ; later on, she appeared at her father’s door, a refugee from 
the intolerable treatment of her “ lord,” whom she had left in 
Italy; she was a Quakeress by education, and married out of her 
sphere. 

In countless instances, “ educated ” women have made misera¬ 
ble wives. The fact is, in multitudes of cases, the wife is a slave, 
and, like any other slave, the less she knows as an intellectual 
being the less galling will the yoke matrimonial be, and the more 
likely will she be to discharge satisfactorily the material duties of 
a wife, which are the ordering; of the household so that it shall 
be the haven and the heaven of the toiling husband, and the nes¬ 
tling, cozy refuge of the children. The truth is, the whole system 
of female fashionable education is an abortion and a curse.' 
Our daughters are not trained for wives, in the true sense of the 
word; but for ladies, for puppets, for dolls, for playthings. Al¬ 
though John Bull has a high character for doing things in the 
right way, in respect to the girls born to him he is as unwise as 
Jonathan. In the European orphan schools and asylums of Cal¬ 
cutta and Madras, the children of soldiers are, with great liberal¬ 
ity, taken to be educated, especially the daughters of soldiers and 
officers who have died in their country’s service ; but in place of 
being taught needlework, cookery, reading, writing, and arithme¬ 
tic, and in the domestic duties of wife and mother, they are in¬ 
structed in subjects that might be expected in a London boarding- 
•school, and hence Dr. Mouat says he has often heard steady sol¬ 
diers declare that they preferred an uneducated native wife to the 
best of the inmates of the institutions above mentioned, because 
the former was gentle, cpiiet, obedient, fond of staying at home, 
careful and tender of the children, and anxious to minister to the 
comfort and happiness of the husband ; whereas the latter was- 
far too often a fine lady, alike regardless and ignorant of domes¬ 
tic duties, fond of gossip and flirtation, and altogether ill calculat¬ 
ed to maintain happiness in her husband’s household. It is pre¬ 
cisely this that is operating in New T ork and Philadelphia and 
Boston, and other large cities, and extending even to small towns 
and the country also, to diminish the number of marriages, leav- 


228 


HAL VS FAMILY DOCTOR 


ing the most beautiful blossoms to be ungatliered, while the bar¬ 
room, the coffee-house, and the club are more and more crowded, 
and the home of honorable wedlock is replaced by dangerous liai¬ 
sons in New York, and the “ furnished chambers ” of New Orleans. 

In short, there is reason to fear that unless greater attention is 
paid to the education of the heart in both the principles and prac¬ 
tice of evangelical religion in our female schools, the time is not 
far distant when it may be said of the United States, as of the 
most corrupt capitals of Europe, that every third child is the off¬ 
spring of shame. Let the thoughtful mature the subject well. 

- C//J - 


DEATH’S WEAPONS. 

The higher the state of civilization, the more attention is paid 
by nations towards ascertaining the causes of disease, and death, 
with kindred subjects, the object being to exercise that parental 
care and authority which becomes a beneficent government. The 
glorious English nation is pre-eminent in these regards, our own 
being too young to have inaugurated any system commensurate 
with die importance of the subject. In one year fifty thousand 
persons died of consumption in England and Wales. It is parti¬ 
cularly noteworthy that the mortality from this disease in the 
city of London bore about the same proportion as that of hilly 
Wales. And it is not a new remark, that, as cities grow older, 
consumption diminishes; in consequence, no doubt, of the greater 
intelligence of the people and the greater conveniences and com¬ 
forts of life. Another fact protrudes itself, and that is, that the 
doctors do not kill everybody. In Wales', twelve of every hun¬ 
dred persons dying had no medical attendant. In one district in 
England one person out of every ten had no doctor to help them 
over the bridge of sighs. Half of all who died were under 
seventeen years of age. This fearful truth will come more di¬ 
rectly home, to parents at least, by saying : “ Half of your chil¬ 
dren will die before entering their eighteenth year ! ” And why ? 
Because it is natural that they should die tjius early? Because 
they were not made to live longer ? Because there is a necessity 
that it should be so ? JNo 5 none of these. Nor is it because in¬ 
heriting a weakly constitution, they were born diseased. * A 




WHAT MOTHERS CAE DO. 


220 


wise care will overcome tliese disadvantages in a vast majority of 
cases. One of tlie greatest sovereigns in the world was born so 
decidedly scrofulous as to be threatened with a life-long deform¬ 
ity ; and yet, of a houseful of children, not one has died, several 
have grown up to majority, and all are in high health, and by 
virtue, too, of a systematic and persistent attention to the laws of 
hygiene. It clearly follows that half of our children die before 
they become of age, because they are not properly taken 
care of, watched over, and instructed as to the means of preserv¬ 
ing their health ; they are not told by their parents how to avoid 
disease. This is certainly a fearful reflection, and yet it is unde¬ 
niably true. 

-C60-- 

WHAT MOTIIEES CAN DO. 

Forty-tw t o years ago there was born to the wife of a poor and 
obscure blacksmith, a son. The father died, and, soon after, the 
mother; and their history and memory perished from before 
men. The infant child was left to the care of whomsoever might 

o 

take a fancy to it; but as months passed, then years, one friend 
took it up and then another; and how, he could scarcely tell 
himself, he obtained a collegiate education and found his way 
into the ministry; when, one day, a thousand miles away from 
the play-grounds of his childhood, after preaching to a large and 
attentive audience, an old lady met him at the foot of the pulpit- 
stairs and said: “ I was present at your birth: I knew your 
mother well, and I do not wonder you have risen to be a minister 
of the Gospel, for it was her habit to give you to the Lord in 
prayer before you were born.” Blessed mother! unknown to 
the rich and great of her time, known, perhaps, even to her 
neighbors only as the “ blacksmith’s wife,” she worked and lived 
and loved and prayed in her poor little obscure sphere, until it 
was her Master’s will that she should go up higher ; and she went 
early, because she was early ready; but her works follow after 
and upward unto heaven, as one by one souls saved by her 
son’s instrumentality cross over Jordan, and meeting her with 
other angels bright on the better bank, they join hand to hand 
aiid file away upward to the Father’s bosom, chanting in glory: 
“ Saved by grace through her prayers.” 




230 


UALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR . 


More than a hundred years ago there lived in London the wife 
of a sea-captain : who were her ancestors, where she was born, or 
what of her life, no one knows or ever w r ill know now. She was 
early left a widow with a fatherless child ; but she feared God 
and felt her responsibilities to the child of her love. But in spite 
of a mother’s teachings he went to sea and became one of the 
most profligate of young men; but never, in all liis wanderings 
and dissipations, could he rid himself of the remembrance of the 
sad, pale, and sweet face of his mother, nor her earnest, patient, 
and loving teachings. She died, but her prayers bound him fast 
to the throne of God, and John Newton became one of the best 
of men. Ilis pious conversation was the means of converting Dr. 
Buclian-an, whose work, Star in the East , led A don i ram Judson 
to the Saviour, converted Dr. Scott, the commentator; Cowper’s 
piety was deepened, Wilberforce became a changed man, and 
wrote a Practical View of Christianity, which converted Leigh 
Richmond, who wrote the Dairyman's Daughter , and how many 
souls that book has awakened and led to the Saviour, and will 
continue to do, only the records of eternity can tell. Mothers! 
however poor and obscure and unknown, look upon your boy- 
cliild, and remembering what God hath wrought through such as 
you, take courage, and pray in faith that the same he can do by you. 

These are deeply impressive examples of the influence which 
the predominant states of mind of the mother during gestation has 
on the character of the child in after-life. If, however, the state 
of mind of the mother during gestation and nursing are vicious, 
the child is not relieved from moral accountability, on the ground 
that it had no agency in the formation of his own character, any 
more than all mankind is thus relieved from the consequences of 
the fall of Adam. The point which presses on us, is the fact that 
pregnant and nursing mothers do give shape and coloring to the 
physical and moral traits of their offspring, and that it is an im¬ 
perative duty to act in the light of these high responsibilities. 

--- 

ACNE, 

Meaning “ vigor,” is a term applied to those little hard pim¬ 
ples which appear on the forehead, temples, and skin of young 




BURYING ALIVE. 


231 


persons of both sexes ; after a while they turn red, then become 
a little yellow, and eventually disappear, sometimes in the course 
of a few weeks, at others, they remain many months, to the great 
annoyance of the person having them, as they are at times very 
unsightly ; most so, on the faces of young men ; they indicate a 
gross habit and bad blood, as in high livers; sometimes heredi¬ 
tary. It is not known that there is any cure for them. They 
generally disappear of themselves after marriage, or when the 
period of youth is passed. Few have them after thirty. As they 
arise from grossness of blood, it is hurtful and is useless to do 
anything for them by application to the pimples themselves ; but 
they may be modified and sometimes are dispersed by keeping 
the skin clean, eating regularly, with nothing between meals, 
taking care always to have a full and free action of the bowels 

O *J 

every day ; an active employment out of doors greatly .hastens 
their dispersion. Benefit is derived from rubbing fiowers of 
sulphur well into the parts twice a day with the fingers after 
washing in the morning and at bed-time, then brush off any 
loose particles of sulphur with a light cloth. When the face is 
simply rough, without any insects in the pimples, dissolve an 
ounce of borax in a quart of water, and apply it to the face with 
a fine sponge or cloth night and morning; this sometimes removes 
them effectually if persevered in. 

-C<SO- 

BUKYING ALIYE. 

Many persons have a great horror of being put into the ground 
before they are really dead ; it is a very rare occurrence as a re¬ 
sult of sickness. In a town in Germany it is the custom to place 
the person in church with a bell-rope hanging just above the 
breast, where it can be easily reached should the person come to 
life. It has not been rung once in a hundred years. 

There is an aversion to wounding the body. A deep cut across 
the arm with a lancet or other sharp instrument would be very 
apt to wake to life again, if not really dead. It was the great fear 
of General Washington’s life that he might be buried before dead; 
the very last words he ever spoke were in reference to that sub¬ 
ject. If a lighted candle is held to the skin there will be a blister; 




"232 HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


if on sticking a needle into it, a fluid escapes, 
air, death is there certainly, because in the 
that the blood is congealed. 


there is life; if only 
latter case it shows 


-- 

NOSE BLEED, 

If not over a tablespoonful, ought never to be interfered with, for 
it shows that Nature is endeavoring; to relieve herself of an excess 
of blood in the head; apoplexy is always the result of this excess; 
sometimes this spontaneous nose-bleeding is a great relief to a 
cold in the head. But when the bleeding is larger than the above, 
it may be arrested by plugging up one or both nostrils with cotton 
or wool or a bit of dough; this causes coagulation which blocks 
up the blood. 

Sometimes the nose bleeds* because, the blood is poor, or from 
some disease existing in the system. The bleeding will often 
cease if both hands are held above the head for some time; this 
diminishes the flow towards the head. Apply ice-water, or a 
cushion of powdered ice to the head. Wash the face in cold 
water, or dip a towel in cold water and apply it between the shoul¬ 
der-blades ; sometimes snuffing up powdered alum into the nos¬ 
trils, or the fine dust at the bottom of a tea-box, answers the 
purpose; so does pulverized gum archie ; pressure with the back 
of the forefinger up against the nose, between the lip and the 
upper gums, is effectual, as the same operation is in preventing an 
approaching sneeze; or press the finger steadily against the artery 
at the side of the nose. 

Any kind of cold metal thrust down between the skin and 
clothing is sometimes beneficial; or 

Put the hands in warm water into which ground mustard has 
been stirred ; at same time have ice-cold vinegar and water kept 
on top of the head and forehead, in an erect position-; stooping 
over a basin aggravates the bleeding. 

Nose bleed in old persons and in heavy feeders indicates a ten¬ 
dency to apoplexy, and lighter living and freer bowels are abso¬ 
lutely necessary ; a fruit and bread diet. 

In extreme cases, where it must be stopped, and other means 
fail, put two grains of sugar of lead in two tablespoons of water, a 




TEMPERATE LIVING . 


233 


teaspoonful of vinegar, five drops of laudanum, or even ten, a tea¬ 
spoonful of honey or molasses; take this every three hours until 
relieved; hut not more than ten grains of the sugar of lead in 
twenty-four hours ; or 

Try fifteen drops of laudanum, one teaspoonful of tincture of 
myrrh, and one ounce of camphor-water. 

.... - C/?3-■ 

TEMPERATE LIVING. 

Breakfast a single cup of hot drink, some cold bread and but¬ 
ter, and a piece of meat, nothing else. 

Dinner at noon, same, adding one vegetable, nothing else, un¬ 
less, as a dessert, one kind of fruit or berry, ripe, raw, and per¬ 
fect and in its natural state ; nothing else. 

Supper about sundown; a cup of hot drink and piece of cold 
bread and butter; nothing else whatever, and nothing between 
meals, unless an orange or half a lemon. 

FRUIT DIET. 

Breakfast, cracked wheat (which see), with sugar or salt or but¬ 
ter over it, and after that one kind of fruit or berry or melon, as 
much as you want, ripe, raw, perfect, in the natural state, nothing 
else; nothin whatever between meals. 

Same for dinner, with any kind of lean meat or poultry or fish. 

Supper, the cracked wheat alone. 

Between each meal an orange or a lemon may be taken, alter¬ 
nately ; these, with the fruits and berries, have an acid cpiality 
which has the effect to cool the system, to clear it of its extra 
bile, and to keep the bowels free. 

Such a diet as the above, with outdoor activities (which see) of 
two hours in the forenoon, and two in the afternoon, cannot fail 
in any case, where any human means are available, to bring 
about an improvement in any case of ordinary sickness. To give 
it a fair trial it should be followed up for a week. When fresh 
fruit or berries cannot be had, dried and stewed are the next best 
substitute. 

It is thus seen that all the ordinary forms of fever, bil¬ 
ious, remittent, intermittent, congestive, and yellow fever, all 




234 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


grades of diarrhoea and dysentery, from tlie mildest forms of loose 
bowels to the most malignant types of Asiatic cholera, are caused 
by miasmatic influence; moisture and warmth acting on vege¬ 
table matter, causing impure, black, thick blood, congesting it in 
the liver, damming it up there to an extent of crowding it, so 
that it cannot work. The cause, then, is one—miasm, so acting 
on the blood as to produce the one effect of a torpid liver, requir¬ 
ing the one remedy which will act upon it, so as to remedy the 
congestion; this is done by calomel, or any other remedy which 
affects the liver, such as the extract of dandelion, called taraxa¬ 
cum, or in the form of coffee drunk at each meal, made of the 
root of the plant, cut in small slices, parched brown, and ground 
like common coffee; a heaping tablespoon of it for each person; 
or the extract of the bark of the black walnut-tree, or the extract 
of the beautiful tomato, or the powdered root of the May-apple, 
called by some mandrake, by others podophyllin; anyone of 
these well prepared, freshly made, and judiciously administered, 
would act on the liver, and to that extent would cure either of 
the diseases named, and any other curable liver-disease. 

If any one medicine, different from either named, was intro¬ 
duced for the first time and was found to be efficient in all those 
forms of sickness, it would at first sight be considered as a won¬ 
derful remedy; but when it is taken into account that they all 
originated in a torpid liver, and that the medicine acted upon the 
liver, stimulated it to work, and caused the accumulated blood 
there to flow on, it appears to be a plain and simple thing, easy to 
comprehend. 

But calomel is preferable to all of them because, First. Its 
bulk is so small, less than the half of what would lay on a nickel 
cent. Second. It has no taste, hence is easily taken. Third. 
When once swallowed it will inevitably remain in the stomach, 
even when cold water or a cup of tea would be rejected. Fourth. 
Its virtues are not deteriorated by. age, hence can always be re¬ 
lied upon for these reasons, none of which either of the other 
liver medicines meet. The 

LIVER PILL, 

whose efficient constituent is calomel, and which is so frequently 
advised in this book, is the best combination of drugs ever devised 





BAD COLDS. 


235 


in so small a compass. Hence the oneness of disease, the one¬ 
ness of its cause, and the oneness of the remedy. 

But it has a still wider application. The observant reader 
knows that a 

BAD COLD 

affects different persons differently. In one case it will settle in 
the head and give catarrh; in another in the throat, and give 
hoarseness; in a third in the throat, causing croup; in a fifth it 
occasions bronchitis by spending its force on the branches of 
the windpipe ; on the lungs, causing pneumonia; on the covering 
of the lungs, inducing pleurisy; on the bowels, exciting diarrhoea ; 
on the stomach, giving rise to a form of dyspepsia affecting the 
nervous system. But a bad cold causes congestion of the liver to a 
greater or less extent in all cases, hence a liver pill will cure all 
these forms of disease if promptly and judiciously taken, because 
it removes the congestion of the liver, hence it cures all fevers 
and all colds, that is, it is the best remedy for all these, and will 
cure them when they can be cured by any human instrumentality.* 
But constipation, and costiveness, and sick headache, and bilious 
colic, and a great variety of the minor forms of disease are direct¬ 
ly owing to a congested liver, while a large class of other dis¬ 
eases are more or less directly associated with this same unnatural 
condition of the liver, and which the liver pill will rectify. 
Hence the liver pill may well be considered as deserving the 
name of 

CURE ALL, 

as calculated to benefit the person who takes it for a greater va¬ 
riety of human ailments than any other remedy yet known. 
How to prepare it, how to take it to the best advantage, and 
under what circumstances, see “ Liver Pill.” 

But simple as it is, so easily taken, so reliable, so certain in its 
action, and so adapted to almost every form of ordinary sickness, 
it is not advised in any one single case unless there is great urgen¬ 
cy, because it is better to get well without medicine, incompar¬ 
ably better, leaving the medicine as something to fall back upon 
in the severe cases where all other remedies fail. All medicines 
are in the nature of a poison; they all impart more or less of a 
shock to the system, the shock falling on that part on which the 


236 


IIALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


medicine is said to act. It is .better in all ordinary cases to em¬ 
ploy first the natural agencies 'of rest, warmth, cleanliness, and 
abstinence from food, and here a remark is about to be made 
which is of more importance than any other in connection with 
human diseases. All ordinary sickness is the result of bad blood, 
and too much of it in the place affected, whether it be the head, 


lungs, stomach, liver, bowels, or kidneys. 

But all blood is made out of the food eaten, and can come from 
no other source. Hence in any form of sickness thus induced, 
the first step to be taken is to make no more blood, for there is too 
much. already, hence cease to eat on the spot, at least until 
next day, say for eighteen hours,-and keep warm in bed, drinking 
as much hot water, or to make it more agreeable, as much hot tea 
of any kind as is pleasant to the taste, or eat lumps of ice, 
crushing them between the teeth until the thirst is fully satisfied. 

If at the end of eighteen hours you are not better, which 
wdll be known by your being more or less hungry, then take a liver 
pill. But suppose you do not feel any better, you do not appear 
to yourself any better, you are better for all that— 

If you have less thirst.” 

If you feel more like eating something. 

If you are even a little stronger. 

If you have had a good sleep in the mean time. 

But you are better even if only you are hungry, if you feel that 
you would relish a nice bit of broiled chicken, or beef steak, or 
bread and butter and a cirp of tea. 


If then, after a fast of eighteen hours, with rest, and warmth, 
and sleep, you are hungry, take only a piece of cold bread and 
butter, a cup of tea, and some fresh berries, or ripe fruit, in 
its natural state, either raw or cooked, or if dried, stewed. It 
is not likely you will have appetite enough to eat so much of these 
as to oppress the stomach. 


At the end of live hours, for Nature requires that time to pass 
an ordinary meal out of the stomach, and not having eaten an 
atom between, unless about half-way an apple, orange, or lemon, 
or plate of ice-cream, make another meal, adding to the first a 
piece of lean meat of any kind, beef, mutton, fish, or poultry. 
This will make two meals for that day. But if after the second 
has been taken, and five hours have elapsed, and it is still an hour 
01 t \\ o to bedtime, and not having taken anything since the 





CAST OH-OIL. 


237 


second meal, except an apple, orange, or lemon, then take a single 
cup of weak tea and a thin slice of cold bread and butter. On 
the next day eat moderately thrice a day, nothing between meals, 
except an apple, orange, or lemon, with a supper of bread and 
butter and a cup of tea. 

Two additional things would expedite the restoration greatly; 
first, soak the feet in hot water, and then rub the body all over, 
well, with a cloth dipped in warm water and squeezed out 
so as not to dribble; this is to cleanse the feet and the skin, 
and to open their pores, or, better still, if practicable, a warm bath. 
There is one other thing of greater importance far than the warm 
bath; if, at the time of going to bed for rest, and warmth, and 
abstinence, there had been no action of the bowels within eighteen 
hours, or at most for twenty-four or more, either take an enema 
of warm water, or a tablespoonful of castor-oil every two hours 
until the bowels have acted, or some other remedy which will 
have the effect to move the bowels within twelve hours. If any 
parent or other person at the head of a househod would carry out 
'this course of treatment, carry it out well, in one single case of 
ordinary ailment, such a person would be so much gratified at the 
result, that it would be repeated during the whole of life there¬ 
after, every additional repetition being but an additional proof of 
the value of the plan. And it would not be long before such a 
person would be considered 

t 

A PEETTY GOOD DOCTOE, 

and could very well “ set up shop ” for himself as a neigborliood 
physician, because of the great variety of cases in which the treat¬ 
ment would be applicable and do a safe good. But if at the end 
of eighteen hours- the patient had no appetite, was no stronger, 
had a “ furred tongue ” (which article see), although there might 
be no pain, no fever, no suffering, then take a liver pill, according 
to the instructions given under that heading. 

CASTOE-OIL TEEATMENT. 

In very many cases where the sickness is not very decided, not 
enough to unfit for business, after abstaining from all food, from 
dinner at noon until next morning, take a tablespoonful of castor 
oil at bedtime, and on rising in the morning, and repeat night and 
morning, taking more or less, so as to ensure one full passage every 


238 


nALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


twenty-four hours, then gradually diminish the amount until it 
can be left off altogether ; let die habit of eating be according to 
the article headed “ Temperate Living.” This treatment would be 
effectual in a great variety of cases of sickness connected with 
colds, fevers, and costiveness. Castor-oil, called oleum ricini, is 
obtained from the seeds of the palma Christi plant, known as the 
castor bean. The plant grows to forty feet in Africa. The oil 
expressed from these seeds needs no description ; it is a mild and 
speedy cathartic. The dose is two tablespoonfuls for an - adult, 
two or three teaspoonfuls for an infant. If a full dose is taken, 
it passes through the bowels in two or three hours, carrying all be¬ 
fore it: hence in some cases it is an invaluable remedv. But 
when taken in full doses it often gripes, causes several passages, 
and leaves the bowels costive. If an immediate action is not 
essential it is greatly better to take half a tablespoon night and 
morning, a little more or less, so as to secure one full, free evacu¬ 
ation once in every twenty-four hours, gradually diminishing the 
amount until it can be left off altogether. If the object is simply to 
secure a daily action of the bowels, and it is managed in this way, it 
is an invaluable remedy, and would, thus taken, cure a great many 
obscure diseases, besides a number of common ailments. It is the 
quickest cure in the world for a common cold, if given in full 
dose within twenty-four hours after the cold has been taken. 
There are two objections to it; it is so common, and so disagreea¬ 
ble to take. The latter objection is obviated by a little care. 
Pour the dose into the middle of a glass or cup of cold water, put 
the edge of the cup as far back on the tongue as you can, hold 
the breath, or what is the same thing, hold the nose, toss up the 
cup quickly, swallow without closing the lips, or without allowing 
them to touch the oil, and there is no more taste in it than water. 
It is drawing the breath, and allowing it to touch the lips that 
makes it at all disagreeable. Coffee or spirits may be used as a ve¬ 
hicle, but nothing is half as good as the coldest water you can get, 
taking care simply to pour it in the centre of the water, and not 
allowing the oil to touch the lips. With such a use of castor-oil 
it is one of the best things known to move the bowels, for it is 
cheap, is always at hand, always sure. 







BUDNS AND SCALDS. 


239 


CARBUNCLE 

Is known from a boil by being more flat and having a honey¬ 
combed appearance ; cnt clear across it, and push into the wound 
some lint or cotton saturated with carbolic acid, and then paint 
the whole surface with the acid. Live on fruits and coarse bread, 
lean meat once a day, and take a liver pill weekly, making the 
bowels act thrice in every two days with castor oil. 

If there is redness or inflammation, or much heat, apply wet 
compresses to the fullest* extent necessary and as often as it is 
necessary. 

If there is no heat, then warm fomentations applied persis¬ 
tently will be of great service. To keep cool during the night, a 
poultice made of Goulard water and bread crumbs is excellent. 

When the heads of the carbuncle begin to soften it means its 
death, make two cuts crossways, completely across the carbuncle, 
even a little beyond it, and then press out the pieces and keep 
on poultices to relieve of any fever or pain. A common } r east 
poultice is as good as anything else, to he changed four times every 
day. When the dead parts are out, and the cavity begins to heel 
up, wash it once a day with a solution of ten grains of lunar 
caustic in an ounce of rain-water. 

- c/ft - 

BURNS AND SCALDS 

Are of four kinds, according to their severity. 

First. When so superficial that there is only a redness, with 
more or less swelling, pain, and heat, continuing for an hour or 
more, or a day or tw T o. 

Second. When the outside skin rises into little blisters, which 
if broken or pierced pour out a little whitish, thickish juice. 

Third. When the real skin is burnt off, the surface is soft or. of 
a yellowish watery appearance ; or the burning may have been 
so severe as to leave the part dry, black, and burned. 

Fourth. When the burning has extended down to the flesh or 
even bone, to inflame or mortify, unless prevented, the pain and 




240 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


suffering in these cases is less than in more superficial injuries, 
because there is less sensibility than in the skin. In cutting off 
a limb, for the same reason, the most suffering is at the instant 
the instrument is passing through the skin. 

The greater the surface implicated, the greater the danger to 
life, indicated by the patient complaining of being cold. There 
is a shivering all over, the pulse is very weak and can scarcely be 
felt, stupor comes on, followed apace by insensibility and death, 
this insensibility seeming to be mercifully sent to save the unfor¬ 
tunate from unendurable suffering. 

TREATMENT OF BURNS. 

If the clothing is on fire throw the person instantly on the 
floor, and cover with a rug, carpet, blanket, shawl, overcoat, or 
any other woollen material at hand; this smothers the fire, while 
the prone position prevents the flames from rising to the face and 
being breathed into the lungs which destroys life. If the legs 
or feet are burned or. scalded, drawing off the stockings often 
brings the flesh along with them,, therefore slit them up instantly 
with scissors or a penknife. 

The first thing to be done in all cases is to exclude the air, for 
it is that which causes the pain; the first and easiest thing is to 
put the part in cold water, this relieves the pain perfectly and in¬ 
stantly, and gives time to think what had best to be next done, 
and also allows the patient to be composed and calm, and thus 
the better aide to co-operate with the nurse in the employment of 
the means to be used. 

If the burned surface is so lanm that there is a feeling of chil- 
liness, then the application of cold water is injurious, and the 
parts should be sprinkled over with flour until no more will stick 
on; this forms a coating which is impervious to air, and in the 
slighter forms of burning, which allow immersion in cold water, 
the flour may be applied and nothing more need be done; have 
cooling diet and free bowels. After a day or two or more the 
flour will cake off and a beautiful new skin will be seen under it, 
but avoid picking off any of the cakes; tepid water should be • 
applied until they are softened so that they will' fall off them¬ 
selves, as the new skin is necessarily very tender and frail. Cold 
applications should never be employed to the breast, belly, or any 







CHILBLAINS. 


241 


part of the trunk or body, because the unavoidable dribbling of 
the water, and the exposure to the air tend to induce chilliness, 
which should by all means be always guarded against. If the 
legs or feet, or hands and arms only are burned, then put them in 
cold water instantly, shoes, stockings, everything on; this may 
prevent blistering, and will allow time to think what had 
best be done next. If there are blisters puncture them, wash off 
the parts and then apply the flour. 

CHARCOAL 

laid flat, while cold, on a burn causes the pain to abate imme¬ 
diately ; by leaving it on for an hour the burn seems almost heal¬ 
ed when the injury is superficial. 

CHERRY-LAUREL WATER, 

eight parts, with a hundred parts of gum-syrup, made of equal 
parts of common syrup and mucilage of gum tragaeantli, is very 
efficient by dipping two or three thicknesses of linen or muslin in 
the mixture; lay it on the burn, renew the application night 

* and morning, but moisten it before attempting to take it off. 

A PAINT IS 

made of linseed oil and vinegar, equal parts, then powdered 
chalk stirred into it until of the consistence of thick paint, lay it 
on with a brush; as fast as it dries put on another coat, until all 
discomfort is gone ; this is on the principle of other applications, 
and keeps the air out. 

After all, the speediest remedy and oftenest on hand is cold- 
water immersion of the part. 

• * • 

-cw-* 

CHILBLAINS 

Are very troublesome, especially in scrofulous and old and 
feeble persons, caused by the cold inflaming the skin, which as¬ 
sumes a leaden or purple hue. ' They would never follow cold 
1G 




242 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


hands or feet, unless they were put in hot water, or held too near 
the fire. Better to warm them very gradually, by first putting 
them in cold water, then in water of sixty degrees for five minutes, 
then rub with the warm hands until they are comfortably warm, 
using your own hands or those of a more vigorous person. 

When a chilblain is ouce formed, take thirty grains of sulphate 
of copper, called blue vitriol, dissolve it in three tablespoonfuls 
of water, and wash the parts well three times a day. Some prefer 
a wash made of two ounces of turpentine and three drachms of 
spirits of camphor. 

If the blains are not broken, apply a mixture of four tablespoons 
of sweet oil, white wax two drachms, melt them, add one drachm 
of balsam of Peru, and one drachm of hydrochloric acid, wash 
several times a day. 

If the blains are broken or ulcerated, apply bread-and-milk 
poultice for two or three days, and paint them with iodine tinc¬ 
ture made by dissolving a drachm of iodine in three ounces of 
alcohol, use only once a day, with a soft brush. To prevent chil¬ 
blains, bathe the hands and feet in warm salt water every morn¬ 
ing and night during cold weather. 


CORNS. 

.The leaf of the ground-ivy, bruised and applied to a hard corn, 
is said to be a speedy cure for the common corns on our toes. 
Instead of burdening the memory with a variety of intricate pre¬ 
parations, it is easier to remember the principles involved. First, 
remove the pressure or friction of the shoe which occasioned the 
corn. Second, keep it moist long enough, and it will drop out of 
itself, or can be easily picked out with the finger-nail; if it ever 
comes again, repeat the process. Lock-jaw has frequently fol¬ 
lowed cutting hard corns ; at other times,' convulsions and death. 
This risk ought never to be run as long as a bit of cotton saturated 
with water or sweet oil, or, better still, glycerine, which is the 
essential element of sweet oil, is a safe, certain, and efficient cure 
for hard corns, if kept constantly applied for a day or two, and no 
shoe is worn. 








BUNIONS. 


243 


A certain mode of removing all corns is to bathe the feet in 
quite warm water every night, for fifteen minutes. Take one or 
two or more thicknesses of buckskin, according to the elevation of 
the corn; cut a hole in the centre of the buckskin so as to receive 
the corn ; this guards the corn against any pressure ; if any kind of 
ointment or pain-killer is used to fill up the spaces around the 
corn the softening would be facilitated. • In a few days the com 
will fall out, or may be picked out with the finger-nail. As often 
as the corn returns renew the treatment; it would not return if 
the shoes were not too tight nor too loose. There is no hard corn 
which cannot be safely and effectually got rid of in this way. 

If pared closely and kept covered with a bit of india-rubber 
cloth the corn will disappear; but there is danger in the paring. 
A simple shield of buckskin made to receive the corn, so as to 
keep off pressure, is second to no other remedy. 

Or paint the corn twice a day with strong vinegar or nitric acid. 

Soft corns are always cured by warm-water bathings and buck¬ 
skin protectors, and no parings are necessary. 

BUNIONS 

are caused by the pressure or friction of the shoe; the irritation 
makes the skin swell. Sometimes it is removed in the beginning 
by keeping a strip of adhesive plaster applied to it as long as 
there is any discomfort. If inflamed, apply a bread-and-milk 
poultice, or water compresses, until relieved. Or rub into the 
bunion, twice a day, patiently, some ointment made by mixing 
half an ounce of lard with fifteen grains of iodine, and wear a 
loose shoe. These bunions generally come on the ball of the great 
toe, or the inside of the first joint of that toe, or the little toe, or 
on the instep, caused by too narrow shoes and high heels; hence 
at once put on a loose slipper without any heels. Cover the bunion 
with a piece of oiled silk covered with some pain-killer or other oint- 
ment. Take a larger piece of buckskin, cut a hole in it laige 
enough to receive the bunion ; then another .piece of oiled silk 
over that; in this way the bunion is relieved from the pressure 
which caused it. Hub the ointment first named on the bunion, 
twice or thrice a day, patiently and well, with the finger. 

When these simple methods of curing 

Hard corns, 


244 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


Soft corns, and 
Bunions, 

are sufficient, and so available to all, it is scarcely worth while to 
encumber the page with the thousand and one cures advised by 
the multitude. 


- ZGO - 

BEONCHOCELE 

Is a swelling of the glands of the neck. Take two and a half drachms 
of iodide of potassium, one and a half drachms of iodine, and 
three ounces of water. But some of this in a small vial, and take 
ten drops in a tablespoonful of water before each meal, and from 
the other portion of the mixture wet the whole skin, where swol¬ 
len, three times a day with a feather, or camel’s-liair pencil, until 
the swelling has subsided; keep the bowels freely acting every 
day. This affection sometimes prevails in certain localities, sup¬ 
posed to arise from the character of the water; hence it is worth 
the experiment to move to a distant part of the country with a dif¬ 
ferent water. 


-- 

SPRAINS 

Of all the joints become painful immediately, in consequence of 
the inflammation. There is one direction applicable to them all: 
keep down the inflammation by allowing cold w T ater to fall upon 
it in a constant stream until relief is obtained; as soon as the pain 
returns repeat the pouring; the colder the water, the better ; ice- 
water, or salt water which is colder than common water. If it be 
the ankle, let it be in a horizontal position, so as to favor a return 
of the blood. If the wrist, keep it elevated a little higher than 
the elbow, take at night a liver pill, and keep the bowels acting 
very freely. 

-CZO- 

ZYMOTIC DISEASES 

Are such as result from: 1st, bad food; 2d, bad air; 3d, filth; 
4th, contagion. As the word “ zymotic,” introduced within a 








ZYMOTIC DISEASES. 


245 


few years, is so commonly employed in medical reports, especially 
those connected with cities and large towns, persons of cultivation 
and intelligence would do well to obtain a comprehensive and ac¬ 
curate knowledge of the meaning of the word, and fix it in the 
memory; it is from a Greek word which means to ferment; there 
can be no fermentation where there are not three conditions:— 

1st. There must be moisture. 

2d. There must be heat. 

3d. There must be some growth which can decay. 

If either one of these be absent, there can be no fermentation, 
which word may be considered in this connection equivalent to 
rotting, putrefying, decaying, decomposition; all these terms bring 
to our mind the idea of filth and dirt. The fundamental meaning, 
then, of the word zymotic, is filth; and all diseases arising from 
filth are diseases of zymotic origin. But different kinds of filth, 
which is really absence of cleanliness, cause different kinds of dis¬ 
eases. If a man has a house near a pond, and there are a great 
many leaves in it and about it, and logs of wood, and there is a 
hot sun, these are the three conditions; and in a short time the 
persons living near that pond will be attacked with fever, dysen¬ 
tery, diarrhoea, running through the whole neighborhood. 

If a man has small-pox, ship fever, jail fever, the emanations 
from his body and his breath fill the air around him; any one com¬ 
ing within a few feet of him will take the disease because of the 
filthiness of the atmosphere; in a measure, you come in contact 
with him ; hence these diseases are called contagious. 

If you sleep with a man who has the itch, or sleep in a bed 
which he has just occupied, there is an idea of filthiness in the 
mind; there is a general feeling that people who have the itch are 
dirty people; hence itch is classed among zymotic diseases, and is 
also a contagious disease, because if you come in contact with 
such a person you will have the itch too, not directly from filth 
itself, but from that which is dependent on what we call filth, to 
wit: insects or growth of some kind ; hence this kind of zymotic 
disease arises from parasites, and may be called parasitic disease, 
of which there are now supposed to be other kinds than that of 
common itch. 

Zymotic diseases, then, are those which result from a want of 
cleanliness of person or habitation, and are avoidable. But the 
deaths from zymotic diseases, avoidable diseases, diseases which 


240 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


arise from filth, occurring in Philadelphia, for the week ending 
February 10th, 1872, were two hundred and ten out of five hun¬ 
dred and ten; that is, two-fifths of all the deaths in so pleasant a 
city as Philadelphia result from the want of cleanliness. If these 
statements have the effect on men of intelligence and influence to 
inquire more particularly into the connection between filth and 
death, it may lead to results ultimately which will benefit and 
.bless all of human kind. / 


■COO' 


PREVENTING SUFFERING. 

Many of what are called the “accidents” of life could be 
guarded against by the exercise of a very small amount of care or 
reflection. “ I might have known better if I had only thought a 
moment,” is a frequent expression of liair-brained people. If this 
chapter were read to a family once a year many a calamity would 
be prevented, many a life saved, and many a home made happy. 
This annual reading might be made a source of amusement as 
well as profit, by asking for reasons for some of the suggestions, 
or for suggestions as to what should be done under certain 
circumstances, in addition to what was named. This would 
impress the precepts on the mind more deeply, they would 
be longer remembered, and would be made available in emer¬ 
gencies. 

1. Never go anybody’s security unless you have the money 
already in bank to remain there until the time has expired, for 
the Bible says, u lie that hateth suretyship is sure.” 

2. Don’t delay insuring your house or life until one is on fire 
and the other lost. 

, 3. Avoid debt as you would fire and brimstone, for out of debt 

out of danger. 

4. Before you go to bed turn off the gas fully^ instead of blow¬ 
ing it out. 

O 9 

5. Don’t change to a lighter garment on Sunday; because you 
might become chilly in church, and would not like to get up and 
go out to rectify your mistake. 




PREVENTING SUFFERING . 


247 


0. Before going to your chamber, if you are a housekeeper, • 
see that all the tires are secure, and that no lights are burning, 
especially near window curtains with an open window. 

7. In freezing weather take very short steps and slow. If a 
mad bull is after you, vice, versa. 

8. Keep.matches in metal cases. 

9. Never throw a burning match on the floor. It cost Portland 
ten millions of dollars. 

10. Never trim or fill a lamp except in the daytime and out 
of doors. This would save a hundred lives every year and pre¬ 
vent many a house from being burned to the ground. 

11. Don’t handle powder after night or near a tire; it sometimes 
goes off, when you go up. 

12. If you take a horseback ride in freezing weather, have the 
shoes roughened. 

13. If you are sick go to bed and rest from motion and food ; 
many persons, women especially, in their ambition to do up the 
work, have reduced their strength so low that nature had no power 
to rise evermore. 

14. Never put on a new shoe on going to church or on a jour¬ 
ney ; you might want to change it and couldn’t. 

15. Never throw broken glass into the street; it may cause pain¬ 
ful wounds to the shoeless poor. 

16. Never give a positive promise to make a friendly call; say, 

“ I will endeavor to do so,” or “ It would afford me pleasure to 
make you a visit,” that is, if you really think so. 

17. Never use an empty bottle, nor drink from a full one unless 
its contents are marked. A gentleman just married built him a 
country-seat at a cost of over sixty thousand dollars. Shortly 
after its completion he made some cider and filled some empty 
bottles, which he had sent to town to sell; but as he could not 
get as much for them as he thought they were worth, he had 
them brought home and filled as above. In a few days a bottle 
of cider was required to be placed on the table; both the gentle¬ 
man and his young wife drank of it. lie died in a few days, 
she lingered a year or more, and died also; their splendid place 
was sold for twenty-five thousand dollars, one of the hand¬ 
somest hi New England to-day. The bottle had contained cor¬ 
rosive sublimate to kill bed- bugs \ it had dried to the bottom of 
the bottle. 


248 


HALL'S FAMLLT DOCTOR.. 


18. Never wake up.any one suddenly, especially a ehild; con¬ 
vulsions have been induced thereby. 

19. Never walk lengthways on a railroad track, a locomotive 
might overtake you; does overtake hundreds every year, and then 
the sexton has to undertake them. 

20. Never throw an orange-peel or any other peel on the pave¬ 
ment. 

21. When crossing the street look both ways and in front at the 
same time, and don’t stop for an instant. 

22. Never carry an umbrella or cane under your arm, for stop¬ 
ping suddenly, a person.behind you may have his eye poked out. 

23. If in a vehicle, never have an arm or elbow or head outside. 

• • 

24. If your horses run away with the carriage and you in it, stay 
there ; or if you must leave, drop yourself out from behind. 

25. If your hat is blown off and is turning various somersets 
before the wind, let somebody else run after it; “they” wall be 
sure to do it and save you the trouble. 

26. When about getting out of a car, let it stop before you start, 
and be sure to get out at the rear door. 

27. Never attempt to cross a street before a horse or vehicle; they 
will pass you in thirty seconds ; better lose them than limb or life. 

28. Be very cautious in promising anything to anybody; always 
leave a place to creep out at. 

29. Walk to a skating pond and run from it, so as not to be 
overheated when you get there, and to warm yourself up gradual¬ 
ly, when you are coming away. Biding from the ice has allowed 
many a person to get into a chill which never was removed. 

30. Never step from the right path, for it goes farther away for¬ 
ever. 

31. If you see a puddle don’t put your foot in it, for the bottom 
may be spilled out ; this precept has a wide application in the 
experiences of life. 

32. Never speak of your father as “the governor,” or “the old 
man,” nor of her who bore you as “ the old woman ; ” for “ mother” 
is the sweetest sound in the language, and it is the last that is re¬ 
membered. 

33. If it lightens, let it lighten ; it never hurts those who see it. 
At the same time the safest place, if in a house, is the middle of 
the room or tub of water. The cellar is no safer than the attic, 
for the thunderbolt comes out of the ground as well as from the 


PREVENTING SUFFERING. 


249 


sky. A man lay down on a railroad track to avoid the lightning. 
It found him out and killed him ; the rails attracted it. A wo¬ 
man got between two feather beds and the bolt followed her, be¬ 
cause the post had an iron rod on the top to hold the canopy. 
Get as far from everything metallic as possible. 

34. If caught in a shower or tumbled into a mill pond, go ahead, 
keep moving rapidly until you get home or to the nearest house, 
then drink a pint of something hot, preferring red pepper or gin¬ 
ger tea, next to that strong common tea, but it is better to drink 
hot water than to wait five minutes ; drink it before undressing, 
which do quickly, put on dry clothing and take another hot drink. 
If in cold -weather go to the nearest house, for it would be impos¬ 
sible to walk fast enough to keep off a feeling of chilliness. 

35. Never perpetrate a practical joke, for no good ever comes 
of fooling. 

36. Never reprove in the presence of a third person, for it is 
sure to wound or enrage. 

37. Never speak harshly to the little ones at bedtime ; let the 
last act of the day be a loving kiss, the last word full of the 
mother. The terrible croup may make it an angel before the 
morning light. 

38. Never attempt to scare a child, nor to leave it while in a 
state of alarm, especially on putting it to bed. If you know your 
child is in terror, if left to go to sleep in the dark it is an unmiti¬ 
gated cruelty to call it “ nonsense,” and take away the light; that 
word demonstrates nothing, convinces nobody ; would it convince 
you ? If the little one is happier to have a light burning while it 
is going to sleep, by all means gratify it, or leave the door open, 
or do any other thing which would enable it to go to sleep with a 
feeling of safety and a quiet mind. . 

39. If you have inadvertently or otherwise swallowed a deadly 
poison, if it burns the throat swallow instantly the whites of sev¬ 
eral eggs, or rather than lose time take the whole egg, except the 
shell; it is the white, the albuminous part, which does the good, 
the yellow does no harm. A substitute for an egg is some flour 
stirred in cold water, drunk quickly. 

40. If a* poison has been swallowed which does not burn the 
throat, especially laudanum or morphine in any of their forms, 
the best plan is to get them out of the stomach as soon as possible, 
by taking a large tablespoon of common salt and as much ground 


250 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


mustard, stir them quickly in a glass of water or a half pint, in a 
bowl or tin cup, and toss it down; on the instant of its reaching 
the stomach, it irritates it to such an extent, that it gives a con¬ 
vulsive heave, and casts out all that was in it; then take a drink 
of strong coffee, having already sent for the doctor, in either case. 

41. Never go into a vault or deep well or cave; see if a lighted 
candle will burn, or a newspaper, or bunch of straw, hay, or shav¬ 
ings ; if the flame goes out it is deadly. If a person is already in, 
and is in danger, pour a bucket-or tub of fresh cold water into the 
well; this antagonizes or absorbs the bad air. 

42. Never go to sleep out of doors in cold weather if you are 
benumbed with cold or feel drowsy, else you will freeze to death, 
and wake never more. 




THE EYE. 

Cinders, specks of dirt, or other hard substances usually get in 
under the upper eyelid, and find a lodgment in a kind of groove 
or channel there provided to convey the tears or extra water away 
from the eye towards or into the nose ; thus persons who begin to 
cry commence at once to blow the nose, to clear it of the water 
thus brought into it through a tube which runs from the inner 

O O 

corner of the lower lid into the nostril. In many persons this 
canal becomes inflamed and closes up permanently, causing the 
water to come out of the eye over the rim of the lid, out upon the 
cheek, causing a great inconvenience of wiping. 

When anything gets into the eye, the first instinct is to put up 
the fingers and rub it; but as the parts there are very soft, this 
rubbing and pressure have the effect to imbed the particle more 
firmly, and cause greater difficulty in the removal, causing in¬ 
tense pain sometimes to last for hours or a whole day, as in rail- 
car travel, when there are no conveniences for relief. 

If, therefore, anything gets into the eye take hold of the Upper 
lid with the thumb and finger of the right hand, turn the face in 
such a direction that gravity will aid in carrying it towards the 
nostril, draw the lid out from the eyeball and work it up and 




THE EYE. 


251 


down over the ball; this excites additional water in the eye, and 
helps greatly in washing the offending particle out at the comer. 

In case, however, of failure when the substance is'hard or heavy, 
as a cinder, which will not float on water, being really a little 
stone, put your lead pencil-horizontally over the eyelid, near half 
an inch from the edge, draw out the eyelid, turn it over the edge 
of the pencil; the speck will be seen at once, when a friend can 
remove it with the corner of a handkerchief turned over the fore¬ 
finger ; then bathe the eye freely in cold water, or keep it resolutely 
closed from the light for an hour or two until there is a sense of 
relief. 

In case it is a particle of iron or steel, as in workshops, a pocket 
magnet is the most efficient application. 

When the eyes are weak, and persons find themselves frequently 
winking them, close them at once and keep them closed for ten or 
fifteen minutes, and then go at something which does not require 
such a close use of the eye as do reading and sewing. 

It is not as great a strain on the eye to write as to read. If the 
eyes have been used in reading or sewing at night, it will be a 
great relief before going to bed to flap up warm water against 
them so as not to touch them with the fingers, carry the water up 
with the palm of the hand over the eyes, the fingers touching the 
nose; then apply cold water in the same way, and once or twice 
open the eyes in the cold water for as long a time as the breath 
can be held; it is very cooling to a fevered eye, and affords great 
relief. 

But the eye is such a valuable organ that every one ought to be 
exceedingly cautious against putting anything into it, or upon it, 
in any way whatever. A friend of the author, a lady of educa¬ 
tion, wealth, and high social position, was advised to apply to her 
eyes, for a single night, a poultice made of rotten apple; it seemed 
very simple; everybody knew what a rotten apple was, and it could 
do no harm, even if it did not do any good; the person advising 
it. knew a case where its application had been of wonderful ad¬ 
vantage. The next morning the lady waked up in darkness ; she 
never saw again; the weight of the poultice and its being bound 
too tightly had done the mischief. 

It is safe to say, that if rest and bathing in tepid water, do 
not relieve the eye, nothing should be done to it except by the 
advice of a physician; an oculist is still better. 


252 


nALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


All persons owe it to themselves to avoid reading or sewing at 
night or by twilight, as much as possible j the rule should be, un¬ 
less there is a clear necessity for it, not to read or sew a mo¬ 
ment after sundown, until the gas or candle or lamps are lighted. 

Never read or sew by one candle; its unsteady flame or flicker¬ 
ing is a great strain on the eye. 

It is ruinous to read while on horseback or while riding in a 
vehicle, because every jolt or jar alters the focus of sight, and the 
eye is instinctively endeavoring all the time to adjust it, the ef¬ 
fort to do which is perfectly exhausting, and is a permanent injury 
to the optic nerve; in fact, it often brings on 

AMAUROSIS, 

one of the most incurable and fatal of all maladies. 

Reading while upon the back tends rapidly to the same disease, 
but to read on the back by candle or gas light, as some do, to read 
themselves to sleep, is a criminality, is murderous. 

Avoid reading or sewing while facing a window or open door, 
the glare of the light is trying to the sight; better let the light 
fall on the page over the left shoulder. 

children’s eves 

are often weakened for life by learning their lessons after dark. 
It ought never to be allowed for a single night if possible. It is 
ten thousand times better to compel them to go to bed an hour 
after sundown, and rise the earlier in the morning, but on no ac¬ 
count to use the eyes before the sun is up. 

Sometimes when the eyes feel weak, as in reading or sewing, 
or in looking at near or small objects, it is a great rest to them to 
look for a while at something in the distance, half a mile away 
or more. Sailors’ eyes are proverbially better than those of lands¬ 
men. A sailor is seldom seen with glasses; it is from the habit of 
looking out for things at a distance, for ships a mile away, and for 
the land. 

Sometimes the eyes are “ matted ” in the morning, or after 
sleeping. The hard matter should never be picked off with the 
finger-nails, and yet it is often done, so uniformly and so invari¬ 
ably causing inflammation, that it has become a saying, in connec¬ 
tion also with 


FROST BITE. 


253 


PICKING SOKES, 

that the finger-nails are poisonous. When infants’ eyes are glued 
together, they should be patiently bathed in tepid water; or the 
saliva of the mother applied with the ball of the finger, rubbing it 
along the eyelashes, is the best thing in the world, for this fluid 
is the softest and most penetrating in nature, in this connection ; 
and for the same reasons grown persons with matted eyes in the 
morning should make the same application, instead of straining 
the roots of the eyelashes, and inflaming them by dragging on 
them. Next best is to have a basin of warm water, or make 
your way to the wash-room with the eyes shut, and open them 
with the face in the warm water and remove the matter, not with 
the finger and thumb nail, but with the ball of the finger, ending 
with flapping cold water over the closed eye or opening the eyes in 
cold water as above directed. 


-C^J- 

FEOST BITE. 

A young lady, after skating some time, complained of one foot 
being very cold. She was advised by the young gentleman who 
attended her to put it in warm water as soon as she got home. 
She did so. The foot inflamed, mortified, and had to be taken 
off. 

It should be remembered that the injury done to a part by 
burning or freezing is pretty much the same, and is caused by 
the rapidity of the passage of the particles of caloric, or heat, in¬ 
wards or outwards. The change should be gradually made; 
hence if there is a burn, not deep, it is cured by holding the part 
near the fire, which is said to draw out the heat. The meaning 
is, that it is very gradually relieved of the extra heat of the burn¬ 
ing. So in frost-bite; go to a room where there is no fire, and 
rub the frozen parts with snow or cold water, almost ice-cold, 
theij rub with flannels, and then with the hands, patiently and 
rapidly. If a limb is frozen, put it in cold water. A frozen part 
is whitened, hence the cold applications should be made until the 
color begins to appear. Ice is very brittle, so is anything frozen, 




254 


UAL VS FAMILY DOCTOR 


the flesli as well, hence a part is easily broken off; therefore handle 
a frozen part with great delicacy, tenderness, and care. 

CHILBLAINS 

are milder forms of freezing, caused by sudden alternation of 
heat and cold to toes or fingers. There is more itching than 
pain. Children and old persons—those who are scrofulous or 
have a feeble circulation—are most subject to them. Bathe the 
feet in tepid salt-water every night. After every washing of the 
hands wipe them and then rub into them oatmeal or Indian 
meal, so as effectually to dry them. This course of treating the 
feet and hands tends to keep off chilblains from those who are 
subject to them.- 

When present wash them well three times a day with alcohol 
or other spirits, or spirits of camphor, rubbing the hands one in 
another very freely many times a day. A better plan is to take 
two drachms each of alum and sulphate of zinc to half a pint of 
water, then add one ounce of spirits of camphor; rub this while 
warm well into the hands three times a day. If they are broken 
the ulcers must be treated differently; then use cold water com¬ 
presses every hour, or every five minutes, until all the inflamma¬ 
tion is gone. * If there is proud flesh use ointment of red pre¬ 
cipitate. 




TURKISH BATHS 

And Russian baths are very much the same, and, except on very 
special occasions and under an experienced medical eye, are un¬ 
natural and dangerous, they are applicable for a cold within 
twenty-four hours after having been taken; in cases where all 
remedies have failed to remove a harsh, hot, dry state of the skin, 
if, in connection .there was constipation; in some forms of 
rheumatism accompanied with great suffering; but there are so 
many safer and more available means which can be employed 
without danger, that it would be better if there were no such 
baths in existence in this country, unless the proprietor of such 
bath was an educated physician of professional ability, and who 




LOCK-JA W. 


255 


superintended each case himself personally. The Turks, as a 
people, especially the higher classes, who alone can afford the 
national bath, are lazy; idle, effeminate, lecherous, and short¬ 
lived, proving that their baths are not promotive of health 
and longevity, if indeed they do not tend to shorten life by the 
great loss of power and elasticity which every bath must occa¬ 
sion. lo breathe such a hot air in the lungs cannot but be ex¬ 
ceedingly injurious, unless exceeding carefulness is observed in 
going into a cooler, especially an outdoor air, from October to 
May. Several persons, in the author’s observation, have been 
'brought to death’s door, and some have died, as a result clearly 
traceable to a Turkish bath. 

Miss Lillie Peckliam, a young lady of great promise, and of 
unusual talents and ability, took a Turkish bath at Milwaukee, 
and was so debilitated that she died in a few days. Dr. Trail, 
one of the most able hydropathists, says that more than twenty 
seriously injurious or fatal cases have come to his personal knowl¬ 
edge, not from the dangerous nature of the baths themselves, but 
from their injudicious administration by th.6 hands of ignorant 
hirelings. 

O 

Turkish baths may be good for filthy persons, such as have not’ 
had a good cleaning off in a year; but we never could imagine 
the utility of putting a decent man into a steam-boiler hot enough 
to skin a lobster, and then filing off all his hide to the very quick, 
by kneadings and remorseless scrubbings. 


<XK> 


LOCK-JAW, 

Or tetanus, is a cramp of the muscles of the face, and of the whole 
body, sometimes coming on with a difficulty in turning the head 
or moving the jaws, with difficult swallowing and pain darting 
from the breast towards the back. Swallow or breathe chloroform 
or ether, next administer a warm water enema; let. attendants 
rub different parts of the body rapidly with the hand. Apply 
spirits of turpentine freely to the neck and face; sometimes a 
very warm bath relaxes the whole body ; but as it is seldom im¬ 
mediately fatal, time is given to call a physician. In lock-jaw 




256 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


the sufferings are terrible, face pale, bones contracted, forehead 
wrinkled, eyes fixed and prominent, nostrils dilated, corners of 
mouth drawn in, giving a kind of grin to the face, intense thirst, 
anguished breathing. It is brought on by cold and damp, or by 
cuts, laceration or punctures, such as the running of a rusty nail 
into the foot; exposures of the wounded on the battle-field, 
coming on in three or four days or weeks. Laudanum is given 
in doses of from thirty to sixty drops every half hour. Turpentine 
friction along the spine, a stream of cold water on the head from 
a height of five or six feet. Inhale chloroform freely ;• or inject 
watery solution of aloes, or Indian hemp. 

Homoeopathists use belladonna, sometimes alternated with 
lachesis, or with cicuta virosa. In the worst forms arnica mon- 
tana is taken. If opium is given, take hyoscyamus in six hours 
after the last dose of opium. Rhus tox., alternated with ignatia, 
is a favorite remedy. If there is inflammation take mercurius. In 
all forms administer enemas freely as may be desirable. Cases 
have sometimes recovered by taking a tablespoonful of brandy, 
and in an hour a grain of opium, in another hour a tablespoonful 
of brandy or whiskey, and so on until relief is obtained. 

Chloral has been successfully used by different physicians. 

-- 

ANESTHESIA, 

F rom two Greek words, meaning without feeling, is given to such 
substances as may be taken into the lungs by breathing, or swal¬ 
lowed into the stomach, with the effect of rendering a person 
insensible to pain and suffering. 

OXYGEN GAS 

Is one of these; for if taken into the lungs a skilful dentist can 
extract several teeth without the person having a particle of pain, 
this is the 

LAUGHING GAS, 

which seems to have been a discovery of Dr. Horace Wells, a 
dentist of Hartford, Conn. And as a warning to the reader 
against the use of this and other similar articles as a stimulant or 
sedative, it may be well to state that Dr. Wells was a portly, 




ANAESTHESIA. 


257 


noble-looking man, and from seeing the effects of ether when 
taken by others in relieving them from suffering, whether from 
bodily pain or mental depression, he fell into the habit of taking 
ether himself, and it grew upon him to such an extent that, being 
on a visit to the city of New York, and having used it too freely, 
he became so excited that lie was for a while literally beside him¬ 
self ; went into the street after night, and began throwing oil of 
vitriol on the dresses of the women of the town whenever he met 
one. For this he was arrested and conveyed to the Tombs. On 
recovering his senses, he became so disgusted with himself that 
he resolved on suicide, and saturating his handkerchief with the 
oblivious ingredient, tied it over his mouth, threw himself back 
upon his prison-cot, and with one tremendous stroke of a razor 
cut his thigh, cut it to the bone, dividing one of the largest arte- 
ries of the body, and died immediately. This was the statement 
of a personal friend of Dr. Wells, who saw the body a very few 
moments after the wound was inflicted. Such was the sad fate 
of a man whose experiments have given one of the greatest 
boons to humanity. About the same time, Mr. Waldie, a Scotch 
chemist and bookseller, one day left a saucer half full of chloro¬ 
form on the floor, and soon after a little dog was lying at the side 
of it, apparently dead; but after a while began to move one limb, 
then another, regained consciousness, and frisked away as if 
nothing was the matter. The chemist, thinking he had made a 
discovery, administered the chloroform to some cats with a simi¬ 
lar result, confirming his belief. He went to Edinburgh, and 
communicated the facts to Dr. James Simpson, who made some 
experiments, all proving that breathing the fumes of chloroform 
had the effect of causing insensibility to pain and suffering, even 
of the drawing of a tooth or the sawing off a limb. And finally 
it was ascertained that the most painful surgical opeiations could 
be performed without consciousness of any suffering whate\ei. 
Prof. Simpson first published these results in 1857. The name 
given this remarkable agent was terchloride of formyl, which was 
soon shortened into the present designation, 

CHLOROFORM. 

Three parts of chlorine gas, and one part of formyl, taking 
their names thus; chlorine is the Greek name foi gieen, that 
17 


258 


nALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


being the color of the gas, and more appropriate, too, from its 
being largely derived from substances taken from the sea, its plants 
and salts. 

RED ANTS, 

if made angry, discharge a very pungent acid substance called 
formic acid, “ formica” being the word for ant. If these ants 
are distilled, a substance is produced so burning, that if it is 
dropped on the skin, it eats into it like fire. It is also derived 
from the stinging nettle. 


-w- 

PATENT MEDICINES 

Are those remedies for sickness and disease whose constituents 
are unknown, except to the maker of them, who is said to be the 
“ proprietor. 55 There is really no “ patent 55 medicine in the 
United States, in the sense in which that expression is used ; for, 
in the first place, the getting a “patent 55 for it at Washington 
would reveal its constituents, and the public would soon know 
that cough medicines were nothing more than the various prepa¬ 
rations of morphia, and that the “ Universal Disease Eradicator” 
was nothing but bread pills made up with the tincture of 
t(hy)ime ; that is, if you are sick, take time, wait awhile, and you 
will get better, in very many cases indeed. 

But “ patent, 55 as applied to medicines, ought to come from 
some word which means to cover, to hide, to keep secret; they 
are secret medicines; secret, because their constituents are not 
made public. That all such medicines do immeasurably more 
harm than good can scarcely be denied. Many of them are per¬ 
fectly inert; but while the misguided taker is waiting for 
the good effects, the disease may be spreading in the body and 
eating out its life. 

If, on the other hand, a patent medicine is really efficient, it is 
liable, as some of them certainly are, to place the system in a 
condition which impels their .use for a lifetime ; or, in some 
other cases, poison it by slow degrees, and eventually destroy life. 

It may be safe to say, that any man who habitually takes any 




IIOW LONG TO STARVE. 


250 


medicine, the constituents of which are unknown to him or his 
medical adviser, acts most unwisely, and endangers his own life. 

The French are an age or two ahead of us in this respect. No 
man is allowed, under very severe penalties, to sell any medicine 
without having all the constituents and their proportions printed 
on what contains it. New York State, after the pattern of Illi¬ 
nois, has under consideration a similar law, and it is to be hoped 
that it will not fail of enactment. The sale of patent medicines 
is the greatest cruelty and the greatest swindle of the age; for 
patronized, as they mainly are, by the poor, who are not able to 
pay for competent medical advice, and are not disposed to apply 
to a hospital or dispensary for free aid, are the chief sufferers, 
because the effect is as if they threw their hard earnings into the 
sea, for the reasons above named. 

It is not by any means claimed that patent medicines never do 
any good, for in reality most of them are the prescriptions of emi¬ 
nent medical men, and were adapted to special cases; but to 
apply them indiscriminately to a variety of forms of disease, and 
to do it for the sake of a little money, when such great risks are 
run as have already been referred to, merits the indignation and 
contempt of every intelligent mind. u Give me a dollar for my 
medicine or die,” is the summing up of the character of every 
man who sells a secret cure for disease. 

-C^)- 

/ 


IIOW LONG TO STARVE. 

A man w T ill die for want of air in five minutes, for want of sleep 
in ten days, for want of water in a week, for want of food at vary¬ 
ing intervals, dependent on constitution, habits of life, and the cir¬ 
cumstances of the occasion. Instances have been given where per¬ 
sons have been said to live many weeks without eating a particle 
of food ; but when opportunities have been offered for a fair in¬ 
vestigation of the case, it has been invariablv found that a weak 
and wicked fraud has been at the bottom of it. 

On the 28tli of August the captain of a Boston whaler was 
wrecked. For eight days he could not get a drop of water, nor a 
particle of food. On the day of the wreck he weighed one lmn- 




260 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


dred and ninety pounds ; when rescued lie weighed one hundred 
pounds. A teaspoonful of brandy was given to each sailor ; but 
before they could be taken aboard the vessel which saved them, 
they became unconscious, and remained so for two days, but all 
eventually recovered. Many persons have been killed by eating 
too much after having fasted for a long time ; the safe plan of 
procedure, and which every reader should bear in mind, is to feel 
the way along, as persons who are travelling in the dark and fear 
a precipice ahead; there can be no one rule given, because there 
are so many modifying circumstances. Give a teaspoonful of hot 
drink at a time, and if no ill result, repeat in five minutes, and the 
same amount of soft food, boiled rice or softened bread, or soup, 
or gruel; for the stomach is itself as weak as the sufferer in pro¬ 
portion, and can only manage a very small amount of food. 

Wading in water, or keeping the clothing saturated with water, 
even if it is sea-water, sensibly abates the horrors of thirst. 


-c cn- 


THE GEEATEST DOCTQE 

Is Nature ; just let her have her way, and she will cure three- 
fourths of all ordinary sickness without the cost of a dollar. In 
. one important respect the human machine, built by Infinite power 
and wisdom and benevolence, passes any structure of human 
hands by a distance immeasurable,—it mends itself, it repairs the 
injuries received from outsiders with wonderful promptitude and 
perfectness. Cut a gash in the arm ; let it alone and it will get 
well. Let a man make a fool of himself by getting drunk or eat¬ 
ing twice as much as he ought to have done, and although Nature 
has been outraged, the body shattered, the mind befuddled, and 
the man degraded, just give Nature a chance at him with a ten 
hours’ sleep, and she will make it 

“all eight in toe morning.” 

But man is so inconsiderate that instead of letting “ the great 
doctor ” have his way he takes to “ arguing the case,” when he 
gets sick, and thus reasons : “ When I was well I could eat heart- 




SUMMER EXCURSIONS. 


261 


ily ; now if I can only eat heartily I shall be well ; ” and right 
away he orders a splendid dinner, and to give him an appetite he 
drinks brandy first, peppers his vegetables, plasters his meats with 
mustard, fills his plate with Worcester sauce, and “ tops off” with 
absinthe, champagne, or “ rot-gut whiskey.” No wonder people 
die at forty-five instead of a hundred years. 

The fact should be borne in mind by every reader of cultiva¬ 
tion and intelligence, that three-fourths of the ordinary sickness of 
men would be safely, promptly, and efficiently cured by rest in a 
warm bed, in a cool room, with a clean skin, and eating only when 
really hungry; eating in the daytime, at six hours’ intervals, of 
two or three kinds of the plainest food, in small quantities, for a 
day or two. 

But if the bowels are costive, if a day has passed without an 
action, the restoration to health would be greatly expedited if an > 
enema were taken, or, what is better, a brisk walk in the open air 
until there is some considerable fatigue, then next morning the 

bowels will be pretty sure to act. 

A 

■-CZ>0-* 

SUMMER EXCURSIONS. 

Many annually form plans for spending the summer. It is 
of secondary importance to decide where to go. The chief point is 
to go somewhere, north, south, east, or west. It is the change that 
does the good,—change of air, change of scene, change of food, of 
the mode of its preparation, change of associations, so as .to have 
some new kind of excitement ; such a change as will bring into 
requisition a different set of muscles, of mental faculties, of moi al 
qualities, of social and domestic enjoyments ; leaving at home, as 
far as possible, business cares, plans, schemes, labors, solicitudes. 

There is some choice in localities : the hill country is better 
than the prairie * the mountain top better than the valley. 

The kind of occupation is important ; it is the out-door life that 
does most of the good—the sunshine and the breeze. If a person 
goes to the country to eat and sleep and lounge about the house, 
but little benefit can be expected ; but if nearly the whole time 
from after breakfast until sundown is spent in excursions on foot, 




2G2 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


on liorse, in country wagons,—going every day to some point of 
interest, instructive and new, raising the spirits, stimulating in¬ 
quiry, cultivating the better qualities of our nature, social, moral, 
and domestic,—then will benefit be derived ; a marked and en¬ 
during benefit to mind and heart and body. Those who have any 
ailment of the throat or lungs should keep away from lake and 
sea-sliore and prairie, because dangerous, raw, bleak, piercing, 
chilling winds follow the rains even of summer ; besides, there is 
something in the sundown dampness of the sea-shore which is 
hurtful to weak lungs. 

If persons are confined to the house, home is the best place for 
every sickness ; there is no good result under any hired or 
stranger’s roof which can compensate for the quiet and freedom 
and roominess of one’s own home; for the tender and sympathetic 
t ministrations of friends and kindred. The risk is terrible,—the 
risk of dying among strangers. It is a beautiful parting prayer of 
one of the Eastern nations, “ May you die among your kindred.” 

Change is the great health-principle involved, and the more 
complete that change the better,—change of air, of scene, of oc¬ 
cupation, of food, of mode of preparation, of associations; hence 
the people of the city should go into the country, the deeper into 
its recesses the better; and persons from the country cannot do 
better than to spend a month or two or three in the city during 
warm weather. The city ways would be a constant source of 
interesting observation and study ; would be a means of elevation, 
of expansion; would give a greater breadth of view of things. 
Under ordinary favorable circumstances, a man becomes more of 
a man, and a woman more of a woman, by the contemplation of, 
and mingling with city life; their views of things become greatly 
enlarged, while the conduct and the manners are elevated and 
impro\ ed. As a matter of economy to those coming from the 
country, it is largely in favor of the city, as compared with the 
sea-side, the watering places, and other fashionable resorts; for at 
all of these the charges vary from two to six dollars a day, which, 
with inevitable “ extras,” is increased by fifty per cent., and all 
this for rooms often so small, that for toilet purposes one must re¬ 
main in bed or leave the house until the other is dressed * rooms 
with rickety “ cottage furniture,” soiled carpets, cloddy beds, bad 
attendance, and e\ei lasting dm and dust and dirt everywhere. 
In New \ ork City, in any summer, large, elegant rooms, in com- 


DANGERS OF KEROSENE. 


263 


modious brown-stone houses, with all the appointments of culti¬ 
vated life, in or near tlie best streets, can be had for ten dollars a 
week easily. A ride to and through the Central Park and return 
home costs less than half a dollar; for half that amount a person 
can go to the Park and return from any part of New York, and 
can spend an hour or two there without any expense, with new 
faces, and new equipages, and new views, every day and every 
hour. For a dollar one may take an omnibus to South Ferry, go 
on a boat down the bay, in sight of the sea, spend a few hours 
on shore on Staten Island, take a picnic, and return by the time 
of the setting sun. Between sunrise and dark an excursion can 
be made to Long Branch, with sea-bathing, a delicious dinner, 
and a movable, changing, splendid panorama of elegant men, of 
handsome women, of beautiful equipages; returning to spend the 
night in large and airy chambers, with no mosquitoes, no drunken 
revelry, nor dice, nor cards, nor thimble-riggery, nor noisy halls, 
nor degrading gallantries. 

Then the promenades in Broadway or on Fifth Avenue are a 
source of never-failing pleasure, amusement, and health; the 
sidewalks are always dry, and in the hottest days there is a shady 
side to every street, and a saunter can be made for minutes or 
for hours; every step something new to meet the eye, something 
lively to attract the attention. In addition to these are city 
preaching, lectures, libraries, and reading-rooms. 


c^> 


DANGERS OF KEROSENE. 

Kerosene oil can be made which will not explode, and any one 
with two ideas can find out whether it is fit to be used in a lamp 
or not. Take a saucer of warm water, say a hundred degrees, 
that is not hotter than a healthy heat, pour some of the oil on the 
water, and apply a flame to it; if the flame sets it on fire, it is 
not safe; if it does not? set it on fire, it is safe, and you should 
tell every friend and neighbor where they can purchase kerosene 
oil which cannot blow them up, burn them to death, or scare 
them out of their w T its. If the clothing should take fire, lie down 
instantly and roll yourself up in a carpet, blanket, or anything 




2 04 


IIALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


else at hand. If you stand up while the clothes are on fire, the 
flame rises about the head and face, and breathing it in is certain 
death. If you lie down, the flame goes upward, and the face is 
untouched. Rolling yourself in a carpet or blanket smothers the 
fire, as in the cut which follows. 



Four Independences.— To do without liquor. To do without 
tobacco. To do without warm water in shaving. To do without 
going in debt. TIappy and great is the man who has force of will 
enough to put his foot on the ground and say, “ It shall be done.” 

A pig would not get drunk twice ; he who goes in debt sells his 
independence and his manhood, and is only fit to be under a des¬ 
pot’s rule. As to the use of tobacco, it is so filthy, so disgusting, 
so beastly, that it is really a wonder that any gentleman could 
condescend to employ it either in chewing, snufiing, or smoking ; 
and yet there are good men who are content to live under these 
slaveries. It has been said that a man may rid himself of the vice 
of chewing by taking, after each meal, coarsely ground gentian 
root, chew it well, and swallow the saliva, for a few weeks. 


-- 

CHARGE OF CLOTIIIRG. 

In March and early April the fitful weather is often more try¬ 
ing to the constitution than the steady and severe cold of mid¬ 
winter, resulting in the death of many from pneumonia, that is, 
inflammation of the lungs. Such results ate forwarded sometimes 
by changing the warm winter clothing for a lighter kind. Many 
lives might be saved every year if no winter garment was laid 
aside before May. It is always safer to be dressed too warmly 
than to have so little clothing as to allow the body to become 













DBO WJSTIJYG. 


2G5 


cliilly. The rule should he to dress abundantly warm, at least 
until the spring weather has become more settled. 

Colds may often be avoided, if, when there is a feeling of even 
slight chilliness, a brisk walk were taken and continued until a 
pleasant glow is felt all over the body ; for the want of this, or 
its equivalent in some form of exercise or work, the chilliness has 
continued and increased until a cold has been taken which it may 
require weeks to cure. 

If persons can manage to keep the feet and hands naturally 
and comfortably warm, such a thing as a bad cold would seldom 
be taken. It is through cold feet and cold hands that trouble¬ 
some diseases come to multitudes. 

-C CO - 

DROWNING 

Is death by smothering. No air can get to the lungs, any more 
than when a pillow is pressed over the face, or a rope around the 
neck, closing the windpipe. The very first thing to be done is to 
send for a physician. The next, right on the shore, to take off all 
the clothing, wipe dry, wrap up 'the body in a blanket, and as 
quick as possible clear out the nose and mouth of any water or 
other obstruction there, and take means to get all the water you 
can out of the lungs, so that the air can take its place. While 
some are doing this, let others get bottles of hot water to put under 
the arm-pits and to the feet, so as to invite back warmth. 

Turn the face downwards, with one arm supporting the fore¬ 
head, so as to keep the nose and mouth from being buried in the 
sand or dust or mattress, or whatever else the person is lying 
upon. This also enables the tongue to fall forward, leaving the 
windpipe free, and the water falls naturally out of the mouth 
when any comes up from the lungs. 

If breathing begins, assist the circulation of the blood by put¬ 
ting the hands under the blanket, and rubbing upwards, so as to 
keep the blood along towards the heart and lungs, where it will 
be warmed. Ilot flannels and hot bricks should be applied, or 
hot sand in bags, to the soles of the feet, to the thighs, pit of 
stomach, as well as in the arm-pits. If now the patient can he 
got into the house, put him in the airiest, dryest, warmest room, 
windows open, giving every five minutes at first a teaspoonful of 




266 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


spirits, or a tablespoon of wine, or hot tea or coffee. Keep in bed, 
and encourage sleep as much as possible. 

But if there is little or no breathing turn the patient on one 
side,—the right is better,—put snuff or hartshorn to the nose, or 
tickle it with a feather, or put the feather down the throat, for it 
excites cough, which helps to clear the lungs. Dash hot water, 
then cold water, on face and chest, and repeat from time to time 
with scarcely an appreciable interval for the first minute or two, 
but desist as soon as a convulsive attempt at breathing is noticed. 
If this does not seem to avail, put the patient on his face again, 
supporting the forehead with his arm as before; a folded coat or 
pillow or any bundle, even a log or a stone under his belly, turn him 
gently on one side, then rapidly on his face; repeat this as rapidly 
as you can, at least fifteen times in a minute, keeping a firm pres¬ 
sure all the while between the shoulder-blades, behind and below 
them. The object of all this is to bring about something like the 
artificial mode of breathing, for wdien the patient is on his side 
the air will enter the lungs; when on his face it naturally comes 
out. 'While all this is going on, apply well-warmed flannels to 
feet and hands, and keep them dry, because dampness, by evapo¬ 
ration, carries heat away from the system rapidly, while the object 
should be to keep in it every atom of heat possible. 

If this does not answer within five minutes, try another plan: 
Put the patient on his back, a small pillow or other bundle 
under his shoulders. Draw out the tongue, and run a string 
around it, so as to keep it out, thus leaving the windpipe un¬ 
covered. Take the arms above the elbows and draw them up 
steadily above the head. Keep them there two seconds. This 
expands the chest, and the air rushes into the lungs. Then draw 
the arms down to the sides, and close to them, pressing them 
against the sides of the chest for two seconds. This presses the 
air out of the chest. If this operation can be performed about 
fifteen times in a minute, the greatest chances are offered -for a 
restoration of the breathing. The instant that is noticed, apply 
heat and warmth as quickly as possible, as above named. Bear 
in mind, in all efforts to restore drowned persons, First .—Ko 
time is to be lost, hence make the efforts immediately on the shore, 
unless it is cold enough to cause chilliness. Second .—The patient 
wants air in the lungs instead of water, hence get all the water 
out as quick as possible, and clear away everything from the mouth 


DJRO WNING. 


207 


tliroat, and nose, calculated to hinder breathing. Third .—All 
the motions intended to imitate the breathing operation should be 
quickly done as we breathe in health ; about 18 times in a minute. 

If the person has been in the water for some time, or there are 
wounds or bruises; if the eyelids are half closed, and the pupils 
are larger than natural, the skin getting paler and colder, life may 
sometimes be restored after twenty minutes’ apparent cessation of 
breathing. In one case, a patient came to life after eight hours 
were spent in the treatment. If there is the slightest lividity of 
the face, or a twitching of one of its muscles, or a convulsive 
movement in any limb or other part of the body, it is a sign of 
life still existing, and it may be invited back. 

All intelligent persons, especially heads of families, owe it to 
themselves to read these instructions over and over again, until 
they are most thoroughly understood and remembered, with the 
reason for everything firmly fixed in the mind. It would not be 
out of the way to practise the motions on the living body, for any 
day and any hour there may be the sad occasion for using them on 
the body of some child or brother or sister or friend. 

A small dog was put into a tub of water. The instant the head 
went under a rapid inspiration of water was taken, and then a 
jerking expiration, which carried out a considerable amount of 
air. Thus the water took the place of the air in the lungs. No 
further effort to breathe was noticed, and in less than five minutes 

THE DOG WAS DEAD. 

The lips were closed, the top of the windpipe shut, and very 
little water was found in the branches of the windpipe. 

A man fell into a well, and went under the water. He had his 
senses all about him, and lie found himself trying to breathe out 
ail the air he could, and aiming to prevent himself from swallow¬ 
ing water; for the next relief to getting fresh air into the lungs 
is that of £>*ettino: the old air—that which has been used and is 
foul—out. Soon after, his recovery he vomited sand and mud. 
A young girl who was in the well with him used no precautions, 
and convulsively sucked muddy sand into her lungs, which in¬ 
flamed them, and for several days she was spitting up sandy mud 
from time to time. 

These things show that death by drowning is simply a suffoca¬ 
tion. The water in the windpipe is that taken in by the first con- 


26S 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


vulsive effort at drawing in the breath ; the lungs, being supplied 
with no new air, cease to act; the pulse ceases to beat; the heart 
stops, and the man is dead. This mode of death is called 

ASPHYXIA, 

which means, literally, “ without pulse.” 

Sometimes it is a matter of very great consequence to identify 
a dead body, and to this end it is necessary, if the features are 
changed, to restore them as much as possible to what they were 
at the instant of death. This is done in a measure, sometimes, 
thus : Cover the cleansed body in water •; pass through it a stream 
of chlorine gas. This wdiitens the skin, improved by adding some 
common salt to the water, and injecting tincture of steel into 
some of the blood-vessels of the face. 

As lives are lost every summer at watering-places, these sug¬ 
gestions are seasonable, and ought to be kept about the person, or 
within convenient reach. 

If a person is struggling in the water, approach him if possi¬ 
ble from behind, and raise the head only out of the water by the 
hair; and as the body loses a third or more of its weight when 
it is in the water, it requires but little strength to keep the head 
out of water, and to drag the body to the shore. For the same 
reason it does not hurt the person much w r ho is thus held up and 
dragged. 

The grasp of a drowning person is so unreasoning and so con¬ 
vulsive, that every effort should be made by the rescuer to escape 
his clutches. 

Persons in the "water w T ho cannot swim, can keep their heads 
above the surface for a considerable time by commencing at once 
a vigorous and quick treading operation, with both arms extended, 
and the palms of the hands resting on the water, for, small as 
they are, some support is afforded. 

At other times, a person who has some presence of mind can 
support himself for half an hour in the water, and even longer, 
by throwing himself on his back, clasping both hands under him, 
throwing his face upward upon the water, his feet extended, so 
that the nose only is out of the w r ater. He can thus float for a 
considerable time without the expenditure of much strength. 

If a person breaks through the ice, as in 

SKATING, 


WORMS. 


269 


or in any other way, help is best given, and with greatest safety, 
by pushing a long rail or hoard or log of wood on the ice, until 
it reaches over the edge where it is broken, up to the person in 
the water, who can hold on to the end, and by this assistance can 
crawl out upon the edge of the ice, which might not be strong 
enough to bear both the rescued and the rescuer. If no bit of 
wood is at hand, then the rescuer might lie down on the ice, flat 
on his belly, and crawl towards the edge, keeping as large a part 
of the body on the ice as possible, for the strain on the ice is less 
in proportion to the surface to be supported. If more than one 
person is present to help save, let one go forward as before, and 
the next one hold on to his heel. 

These things should be thought over carefully by all, that when 
there is occasion for them, the mind should feel at home in direct¬ 
ing their execution. 

•-C<?3- 

WORMS. 

About thirty kinds in all have been found in the human body. 
As there are three descriptions of living things which infest the 
skin of man, the head-louse, the crab-louse, and the body-louse ; so 
there are three kinds of living things which find their dwelling 
and feeding places in the interior, in the alimentary canal: the 
pin-worm, the fisli-worm, and the tape-worm. 

THE FISH-WOKM, 

so called from its resemblance in shape, size, and color to the 
worm used for baiting hooks to catch fish, and which appears in 
such numbers when the ground is turned up in the garden for 
spring plantings, called technically Ascaris lumbricoidis , or round 
worm, mostly found in the small intestines, but sometimes makes 
its way into the large intestines and info the stomach, even com¬ 
ing up into the throat and out of the mouth, and sometimes it 
has been half a foot to half a yard long, and as large round as a 
gold guinea. It is only when a good many are together that any 
special harm may be done. These worms get into the body by 
drinking water from shallow wells or muddy streams. Some¬ 
times in adults they cause nausea, vomiting, and various symp- 




270 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


toms of indigestion for weeks together, until they are vomited or 
voided. There is no symptom or set of symptoms which cer¬ 
tainly indicate the presence of worms in adults or children, ex¬ 
cept the type of the worm itself after it leaves the body, although 
in children they may be suspected when they are observed to 
pick the nose, grind the teeth in sleep, complain of itching at the 
lower outlet of the bowels, swollen belly, irregular appetite, and 
sometimes convulsions; but one or all of these symptoms may 
arise from several other ailments. So there is no really certain 
proof that an infant, child, or adult “ has worms,” except the 
sight of one expelled. 

PIN-WORMS 


are sometimes a source of intolerable discomfort, by causing an 
inappeasable itching at the exit of the rectum, especially when 
getting a little warm after first going to bed. They are called 
pin-worms by the common people, because they are almost as 
slender as a pin, and short, from a twelfth to half an inch long ; 
sometimes they come away in incredible quantities; besides the 
itching, they sometimes cause a great deal of nervous irritation, 
and keep the whole system in a debilitated condition. Inject a 
teaspoonful or two of camphor water, made by putting a piece 
of camphor into a small bottle and adding a teaspoonful of 
water, shake it and use it; the water may be added from time to 
time until the camphor has disappeared. Or take a teaspoonful 
of the tincture of Cocculus Indicus to a teacup half full of 
common water, and use it as an injection alone, or with the 
camphor water, but either may be stronger. Sometimes an in¬ 
jection of lime-water, as obtained from a druggist, answers the 


purpose ; or press mercurial ointment into the part, and retain it 
over night ; or take twelve grains of - santonine, and thin it with 


cocoa butter, enough to make four rolls an inch long, cone-shaped, 
and near as large as the little finger ; introduce one of these into 
the rectum on going to bed every night. This is a valuable re¬ 
medy, and- seldom fails. 


TAPE-WORMS 

have no sex originally, but if one of them gets into the human 
body in such a way that it can get some air, as in the alimentary 

' 4/ 


HOUSE POLS OHS. 


271 


canal, then it takes on sex, and reproduces itself. It has a head, 
with a short neck, to which is appended a kind of flat link; then 
comes another link, another and another, growing in length all 
the time, until there is a chain of three or four hundred links or 
more. The links at the end of the tail are cast off, sometimes six 
or'eight a day; the wdiole animal may he some thirty feet long. 
There are no symptoms certainly indicating their presence, except 
seeing one or more of these links in the dejections. When one or 
more of these segments have been observed, it will be found that 
certain symptoms have been more or less present, such as irregu¬ 
lar appetite, disturbed sleep, despondency, sadness, dyspepsia, 
itching of the nose, and general nervous irritation. Hot long 
since an apparatus was devised for fishing it out through the 
throat. Eating largely of 

PUMPKIN SEEDS 

has the credit of having cured several serious cases of tape-worm. 
Gourd seeds peeled and made into a paste with honey, about two 
hundred at a time, taken fasting, as the pumpkin seeds are, have 
been efficient in a number of cases. 

These remedies are more efficient if nothing has been eaten for 
twenty or twenty-four hours; this causes the worm to be raven¬ 
ously hungry, and thus to take into its stomach what its instincts 
W'ould otherwise forbid. Or make a strong tea of pumpkin or 
gourd seed, drink it at bed-time plentifully, not having eaten 
anything whatever since breakfast; the next morning a strong 
cathartic will bring away the entire worm, dead or alive. In one 
case this brought a worm away, twenty-five feet long. 

--- 


HOUSE POISOUS. 


Many persons have sickened and died after moving into new 
houses; others, after sleeping for a few nights, or even a single 
night, in the “spare room” of a friend. A few years ago f<>ui 
children in one family sickened and died, one after another. In 
18G0 a woman sickened in Boston, manifesting all the symptoms 




272 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


of having been poisoned; she recovered to a certain extent, but 
never regained her health. In the case of the four children, the 
paper on the wall was found to contain three grains of arsenic in 
every square foot; in the case of the woman, a removal of the 
paper on the wall was followed with improvement in her health. 

In all cases of pining sickness, when there is no appreciable 
reason for it, two things ought to he promptly done : change the 
room and the water; live all the time in an apartment without 
paper on the walls, or curtains about the windows, or any green 
color in the carpets; in addition, use water which is obtained 
from the roof of the house, and no' other; or obtain water which is 
at least half a mile away, from a spring or well, many feet higher 
than the usual supplies, because the water may be poisoned by the 
lead pipes in the house, or more likely by the drainage of barn¬ 
yards, pig-pens, hen-houses,'and privies finding its way into, the 
well or spring lower down than those which supply the family. 
As to curtains, carpets, and wall paper having a green color, it 
may be regarded as a certainty that the color is produced by the 
use of arsenic; and the glazing material, of whatever color, is 
mainly composed of a poisonous preparation of lead. 

Precaution should be taken to exclude all green candies, all 
green toys, all glazed materials, even visiting cards, for a little 
child died recently by chewing a visiting card ; it had a sweetish 
taste, having a glaze made of sugar of lead. In a toy box of 
water-colors, one block of green paint, weighing forty grains, con¬ 
tained ten grains of arsenic; the green in lamp shades contains a 
large amount of arsenic, as do also the green papers which envel¬ 
op. the bon-bons of the confectioner. A tarlatan dress contained 
eight grains of white arsenic to every square foot of the material. 
Chemists are of the opinion that the dust of the arsenic is detach¬ 
ed from these various objects by the moving air, or by handling, 
and is thus taken directly into the lungs, thence introduced into 
the blood. If any material supposed to contain arsenic is put into 
a small amount of hartshorn, spirits of ammonia, if white arsenic 
is present the liquid will have a bluish tint; if further proof is 
desired, pour a little of this bluish liquid on crystals of nitrate of 
silver; if arsenic is present, there will be a yellowish deposit oil 
the crystals. 

But these things are not new, only disregarded; for a hundred 
years ago a law was passed in France forbidding the use of arse- 


GENERAL HEALTH. 


273 


nic in making any colors for domestic uses; but its employment 
was so profitable in coloring many tilings, vases, artificial flowers, 
and the like, that the law was gradually more and more disregard¬ 
ed; and when its re-enactment was proposed the shopkeepers 
rose in opposition, and declared it would ruin their business. 
Within a few years, in England, a paper-maker declared that he 
used four thousand pounds of arsenic every week in his workshops 
for the purpose of coloring and sizing. 

A preparation for destroying vermin about houses is made 
largely of arsenic, called by various names; the most common is 

siieele’s green, 

being the arsenite of copper, the aceto-arsenite of copper, or 

STEINFURT GREEN, 

all dangerous to health and life, and should be sedulously ex¬ 
cluded from every dwelling-house. 


- C0Q -* 

GENERAL HEALTH. 

There are various forms of sickness and suffering which cannot 
be directly reached by medicine or medical or surgical appliances, 
and can only be benefited and cured by obtaining and maintain¬ 
ing a high state of general health for weeks and months, and even 
years in some cases, thus wearing the disease out of the system, 
“ growing: out of it,” as children sometimes do. 

A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE GIRL 

of two years old, mother dead, was noticed to stand with her legs 
crossed, and would not change her position, holding to a chair, 
which she would continue to do, unless forcibly removed ; if not 
removed the body would gradually settle down until it nearly 
touched the floor; the face meanwhile became motionless, a blank 
expression; her hands rigid and cold; she would then gradually 
regain her self-possession ; nothing seemed to be the matter with 

her ; she said it did not hurt her, and that she could not help it; 
18 




m 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR 


one person suggested worms; some worm-medicine was given, 
and brought some away; but the habit remained unchanged. 
These occurrences would take place, at several hours’ intervals, 
several times a day ; then none for several days. Physicians were 
consulted far and near; nothing whatever seemed to make any 
impression on the case. One thought it was epileptic; another, a 
vagary of the reproductive function, only to be relieved by a sur¬ 
gical operation, to be nothing for life thereafter. When she in¬ 
dulged in the habit most freely, she was pale, peevish, and fretful. 
She was an only child, and the father, a merchant of high posi¬ 
tion, was very greatly concerned ; for if epileptic, the mind would 
eventually give way, and if of the other nature, there were very 
great professional objections to such an operation. It is always 
difficult to get little children to take medicine. The author gave 
it as his opinion that it was not epileptic, not an organic malady, 
that no such such fearful operation was necessary, that there was 
no abnormal action of the reproductive functions ; in short that 
it originated from a deranged condition of the stomach, liver, and 
bowels, and that she could be cured without any medicine what¬ 
ever. She was perfectly cured within two months, and remains 
cured to this day. The advice given is here detailed at length, 
■with a view to stating some practical suggestions at the close of 
this article. 

First. Send her to the country; it was summer. 

Second. Let her be under the eye of some relative, who feels a 
personal interest in her. 

Third. Let it be in a family where there are several other 
children of her age and a little older, so that playing with them 
may give her free employment. 

Fourth. Encourage her to be out of doors in the open air 
from morn in o; to night. 

o o 

Fifth. Let her eat three times a day, with all the fruit, berries, 
and melons she can eat as dessert after breakfast and dinner, at 
regular hours, and nothing whatever between meals. 

Sixth. See to it that there should be one or two actions of the 
bowels every day; if not that much, take enough Tfastor oil, night 
and morning, to cause that effect without fail. 

Seldom has a father been relieved of a greater burden when he 
saw his little daughter the happiest and the healthiest child in all 
that part of the country. The lesson to be learned -is:_ 


GENERAL HEALTH. 


275 


When anything is the matter with a little child, or even a grown 
person, and the nature of it is obscure in the judgment of all, be¬ 
fore any medicine is given, carry out the principles involved in the 
above treatment; at least for a week or two notice the points in¬ 
volved in the case. 

First. She was sent to the country for the benefit of its pure air. 

Second. She was to. eat regularly, in order to give the stomach 
some chance to rest, and get a little strength to digest the next 
meal. 

Third. She was to be with children of her own age, to amuse 
her, to be a temptation to keep out of doors, for every breath of 
such air drawn in went out of the bod} 7 loaded with the impurities 
abstracted from the blood, leaving behind its pure oxygen to im¬ 
part its life to the system. 

Fourth. By having children to play with she was amused—she 
was tempted to run about pleasurably, every step she took helping 
to wear out of the system some of its useless particles. 

Fifth. A plentiful supply of berries and fruits, the acid of 
which cooled off the system; kept it free from fever, kept the 
bowels open, without the need of medicine, all combining to bring 
about abundant agreeable exercise in the open air and a free state 
of the bowels. 

There is no disease known to men which can be benefited or 
cured by any means, which such things will not benefit or cure 
in proportion as they are carried out. 

This case proves conclusively the truth of the opening state¬ 
ment : that some ailments can be eradicated, when all other means 
have failed, simply by keeping up the general health. 

There is another case in the author’s hands now, which, if bene¬ 
fited at all, giving a little start with a dose or two of medicine, 
will be benefited by keeping up the general health. 

Three years ago a young lady received, by the merest accident, 
a very violent blow upon her closed mouth, nearer the chin than 
the nose. She became insensible, and so remained for many days, 
with an attack of brain-fever. She has been entirely deaf ever 
since ; scarcely any circulation below the knees ; the feet always 
icy cold. 

Incessant pain in the head. 

Steady pain in the throat; can’t see well enough to go any¬ 
where after dark. Pains all the time at the top of the lungs. 


270 


IIALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


Great shortness of breath on slight exertion. 

Can’t read or sew. 

Bowels regular, appetite always ravenous, had taste in the morn¬ 
ing, and tongue always coated ; better in summer than in winter. 
Sleeps pretty good ; very chilly. 

This excellent lady can have better health, and eventually may 
grow out of her ailments, for she is only twenty-two. This opin¬ 
ion is given because being better in summer than winter shows that 
the open pores of the skin allow the escape of more bad matters than 
in winter, and if this escape could be increased she would necessarily 
be better in proportion; the fruit diet, the outdoor exercise, with the 
extra drains from the system, by a little medicine once a week, must 
necessarily be followed by encouraging results, if the feet can be 
kept warm, to draw the excess of blood from the head, which causes 
the pains and deafness there. A single liver pill once a week will 
greatly expedite her improvement, if the feet are kept warm, and 
the bowels very free every day. 

Hence it is so frequently advised, in these pages, to keep up the 
general health, which involves two things,—a plentiful supply, at 
regular hours, of plain, nourishing food; abundant exercise of a 
pleasurable character in the open air every day, with a full, free 
action of the bowels every twenty-four hours, without medicine if 
possible, but the free use of it to cause that effect certainly if neces¬ 
sary ; the only expense of the whole being a bottle of castor-oil, or 
its equivalent. There are internal maladies which can neither be 
seen nor reached, but may be cured certainly and permanently. 

Long running sores can very readily be made to heal up by lo¬ 
cal applications; but the diseased conditions of the blood which 
caused them must be corrected by improving the general health, 
purifying the blood, otherwise the sore which seemed to be cured 
will attack some more vital part, to ruin and destroy. 

A man is in good general health when the bowels act regularly 
every day. 

When there is no bad taste in the mouth of mornings: when 
there is regularly a good relish for breakfast, a vigorous appe¬ 
tite for dinner at noon, and hunger enough for supper to make 
plain bread and butter and a cup of tea very acceptable, with no 
unpleasant reminder whatever after eating. 

When the feet are always comfortably warm. 

When the sleep is always sound and refreshing. 


GENERAL HEALTH. 


277 


"When the pulse is not over seventy beats in a minute midway 
between meals, and after having sat quietly for a quarter of an 
hour, for eating always excites the pulse for an hour or more after a 
regular meal. 

When there is a general feeling of wellness, with a cheerful, 
lively, genial disposition. 

But a man may he said to have good general health if the fol¬ 
lowing conditions are uniformly present: 

1. A regular good appetite. 

2. No unpleasant reminders after eating. 

3. A daily action of the bowels. 

4. A pulse not over seventy. 

5. Feet all the time comfortably warm. 

6. Sound, refreshing sleep. 

These six things show that the main bodily functions are in health¬ 
ful working order, and that the blood is pure and good. To bring 
about the six conditions named, three things are necessary, and 
this is still further reduced to two points. 

To eat properly. 

To exercise judiciously. 

By doing these two things habitually, three out of four of all 
ordinary ailments, acute or chronic, could be promptly cured ; they 
will cure more maladies than medicine; they will cure many which 
medicine fails to reach. 

Begin thus. At bedtime of a day, during which since noon 
dinner nothing has been eaten, take a good warm bath in a warm 
room, with plenty of white soap and water, and give the whole 
body, in every part of it, a most thorough scrubbing, washing, and 
rinsing. Take a liver pill according to the directions under that 
heading. For breakfast next morning, as soon as you feel a 
little hungry, take a single cup of hot drink and some cold bread 
and butter. Not sooner than five hours after take a bowl of any 
kind of soup, with the crust of cold bread broken into it, or in its 
place a bowl of oatmeal gruel, or a plate of cracked wheat. For 
supper take the same as at breakfast. Eat nothing whatever 
between meals. 

The more you can be out in the open air from breakfast to 
sundown the better. The more lively the exercise, or the more 
interested you are in your work, the better; only one thing is to be 
guarded against, do not carry the exercise to fatigue, always stop 


2TS 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


before you are much tired. All these things have been advised 
to favor the action of the pill, which is to give you a good start 
by clearing out the liver; this is aided by drinking abundantly of 
cold water, if thirsty between meals, but none within half an hour 
of eating. On the day after the liver pill has ceased its action, 
no passage from the bowels is needed, that is, if you take a pill 
on Saturday night, it acts during Sunday more than once, you 
need no action on Monday, and so whenever you take one of 
these pills, with these exceptions, you should arrange that the 
bowels should act every day afterwards in one of three ways: 

By an enema. 

By medicine. 

By the character of your food; this last is best, because it is a 
natural remedy, is always safe, and when it is efficient is more 
permanently so. 

The first thing to be done, by each one for himself, is to 
notice what kind of food or drink tends to loosen his bowels, 
and use that more freely. If your attention has not been directed 
to that point use the experiences of others, and on trial yours may 
coincide with theirs. Some will tell you that they regulate their 
bowels by going to the privy at a regular hour every morning 
after breakfast, and, in the absence of any inclination, solicit 
nature; do not be hurried away by your business; haste and 
anxiety tend to drive off inclination ; rather than strain it is better 
to divert the mind by reading a newspaper or a book. 

Others will say that a. glass or two of cold water or of salt 
water, on rising, is efficient. 

A third says that making breakfast entirely of oatmeal gruel 
or of cracked wheat is good in his case. And although what is 
availing in one ease may not be in another, yet by inquiry it is 
quite certain that good suggestions will be had by comparing 
ideas. 

If the bowels are very stubborn at first, and if it is a defect in 
your case, has been a prominent one for some time, weeks and 
months time will be saved by taking an enema; and as soon as 
there is a regular action for a few days, omit it. Or medicines 
may be taken. See the article “ Castor-Oil.” Take just as 
much, and no more, night and morning, as will secure one free 
action, and when that has been secured for several days, begin to 
diminish the amount. Omit one of the doses, and after a while 


FRUIT DIET. 


279 


the other; if the oil cannot be taken, then try Epsom salts night 
and morning, just enough to produce the desired effect, and leave 
it off as soon as you can; or a dinner pill may be tried for a 
while. But during all this time be making a steady effort to find 
out some kind of food which has a loosening tendency, such as 
stewed fruits, prunes, dried figs, tomatoes. If none of these avail, 
you must get out of the way of taking medicine to keep the 
bowels regular, for as a habit it is exceedingly mischievous. 
When other things fail, resort to a 

FRUIT AND COARSE BREAD DIET. 

For breakfast, take cracked wheat, thoroughly boiled until 
quite soft; put on it some sugar or salt or butter; make your 
entire breakfast of that, except that, as a dessert, take one or 
two oranges or apples, or a saucer of fresh, ripe berries, in their 
natural state; or one or two baked apples, or some stewed fruit. 
This last may be taken with the wheat, if the others, which are 
better, cannot be obtained, either preserved, canned, or fresh. 

Dinner—Graham bread, or bread made of the whole grain of 
wheat, one vegetable, and any kind of lean meat, with a dessert 
of fruits or berries, as at breakfast, as many as can be eaten in 
their natural state, as if picked by yourself from the bushes. If 
sugar or milk or cream, or any other artificial sweet is used with 
berries, except currants, the cooling, opening, liver-acting effect 
of the natural acid is to that extent antagonized. No fluid 
should be taken with the berries, as it tends to make them sour 
on the stomach, and also dilutes that acid which gives them their 
cooling, healthful, opening qualities. 

SUPPER. 

The last meal of the day should be taken about sundown, and 
should be made of coarse bread and stewed fruits, or berries, raw 
or preserved, and nothing else. Nothing whatever should be 
taken between meals, so as to allow the stomach some time to 
rest; for it is frequent eating, giving no opportunity for repose, 
which makes half the miserable dyspeptics in the land. No 
body, no part of the system can work incessantly; even the busy 
heart is quiet one third of the time. 


280 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR 


EXERCISE, 

by which is meant riding, walking, or working, or active engage¬ 
ments in business, more completely expressed by the term of 

% 

MUSCULAR ACTIVITIES 

in the open air, is essential to good general health. Sedentary 
persons should spend two or three hours in the forenoon out of 
doors, and one or two in the afternoon, from April to December; 
and two or three hours in the middle of the day, for the remain¬ 
der of the year. That exercise most avails which is taken, 

RAIN OR SHINE, 

not when the rain is falling; but it seldom happens that it does 
so for twelve or fifteen hours in succession. There are intervals 
of which advantage should be taken. If one thing is allowed as 
an excuse one day, then other excuses will prevent other days. 
The only safe plan is to make exercise in the open air every day, 
for several hours, imperative, for two very strong reasons—first, 
the fresh, pure air is needed just as much one day as another; 
and the worse the weather, the heavier and the damper it is, the 
more do we need the purest air, which is always to be had out of 
doors; for, under all circumstances, the indoor air is the out¬ 
door air tainted with the emanations from food, from the per¬ 
sons of the inmates, from their breathing, and from the dust from 
carpets, curtains, and other hangings, given off at every touch, 
and every breath of wind through door or window. Hence out¬ 
door air is more needed in bad weather than good. 

Second.—Food is as much needed when it rains all day as if it 
were perfectly clear and sunshiny. We eat quite as much; that 
food is to be digested. The very object of the outdoor air is to 
promote digestion; and if it is promoted only in good weather, 
then the blood it makes is bad, and corrupts the whole mass of 
blood in the body, for it is all mixed together; thus the want of 
exercise for one day corrupts the whole blood of the body, re¬ 
quiring a week often to rectify it. Hence the loss of time in 
losing one day’s outdoor exercise in the pursuit of a high state 
of general health. 

If, however, the person is actually sick, or if it should storm the 


GENERAL HEALTH. 


281 


whole day, eat nothing after breakfast until dinner-time, then 
take nothing but a single cup of tea, a single piece of bread 
and butter, and some stewed or raw fruit; for supper, some cold 
bread and butter, and a cup of tea and nothing else whatever, for 
the stomach may digest well this small amount of food, where it 
would not digest a large amount. 

Most persons have observed how dull and stupid and inactive 
they feel when kept in the house all day; why, by the time night 
comes they are perfectly miserable ; it is because they have eaten 
as much, if not more, than if engaged in active business; but food is 
needed in proportion to the exercise taken ; hence, if as much is 
eaten on a day in which nothing is done, the result is that the food 
is not made into good blood, and more blood is made than there 
was need for, therefore the body is oppressed with an excess of 
blood, and with the pound or two of waste matters which remain 
in the system, but which would have been worked out of it had 
the usual outdoor exercise been taken, thus leaving the system 
oppressed, not only with the pound or more of waste matter, not 
worked out of it, but with the additional weight of the food eaten 
that day; no wonder that persons feel dull and stupid from re¬ 
maining indoors all day, with these several pounds of extra matter 
oppressing the system. 

These remarks are applicable to professional men, mothers and 
daughters and students,'who are necessarily indoors a greater 
part of the time. 

' But many persons have no available method of outdoor exer¬ 
cise but walking (which article see); others have not the strength 
to walk half an hour; but they will soon have the strength, if a 
systematic and persistent effort is made to carry out the spirit of 
the suggestions made. Walk a block or a hundred yards and return 
home, lie down and rest, and in another hour repeat the walk, and 
so on, every hour of the day from breakfast to sundown. In less 
than a week you will be less fatigued in walking two hundred yards 
than the first hundred the first day ; in this manner feel your way 
along, always stopping short of actual fatigue, and in the intervals, 
if very weak, have absolute rest on a sofa or bed. Keej) these two 
ideas always in view, stop before much tired, and have perfect and 
plentiful rest between. But remember there is a time when all must 
die; that event is foreshadowed to you only if, after exercise, 
you feel worse than you did before, more weary, more tired than 


282 


HALLS FAMILY D OCT OB. 


when you started out, for the presumption is that a dangerous 
disease is impending, or that the powers of life are failing. When 
you really cannot take exercise out of doors you are dying, and 
should have medical attendance. But, on the other hand, if you 
feel all the better for outdoor exercise when it has not been 
carried to fatigue, then it is pretty certain that you have vitality 
enough to be well again. Thus it is that in the management of 
disease, especially in those forms of it which are rather obscure or 
altogether inexplicable, the improvement of the general health is 
found to be 

THE GKEAT CUKE-ALL, 

and that is to be secured: First, By a clean skin. Second, By 
plain, nourishing food, mainly coarse breads and fruits. Third, A 
great part of every day to be spent in pleasurable activities in the 
open air. Fourth, A full and free action of the bowels every 
twenty-four hours, without medicine if possible, if not, then have 
that action by any means in your power. Castor-oil or salts, which 
articles see, are the most familiar and simple, or the liver pill 
twice a month. 


-- 

SIMPLICITY OF MEDICAL PEACTICE. 

Five classes of disease comprehend nearly all human maladies. 
Two medical principles are adapted to the cure of all those that 
are curable:— 

First. Lessening the amount of the blood. 

Second. Getting out of the system whatever is useless and hurt¬ 
ful. 

Then Nature comes in to restore vigor to the system and health 
and life to the whole organization. 

In a few hours’ reading and mental application the whole sys¬ 
tem of medical practice and hygiene can be made as plain and 
simple and comprehensive as one of the most familiar demonstra¬ 
tions of Euclid. 

The inflammations or the “ Phlegmasise,” as physicians like to 
term them, comprehend at once a large class of ordinary mala¬ 
dies. Inflammation means “ flame-like,” which we know is red- 




SIMPLICITY OF MEDICAL PRACTICE. 


283 


dish, or the color of flame. If we see a red eye, we say it is in¬ 
flamed. If we look at the edges of a sore, we observe that it is of 
an angry red color ; we speak of it, also, as being inflamed. 
Medical writers have a very convenient way of classifying and 
distinguishing diseases of this character by attaching the word 
“ ibis ” to the end of the name of a part, and that signifies that 
such a part is inflamed, “itis” meaning “flaming.” 

There are no less than eighteen common diseases included in 
this list, and one medicine is more or less applicable to their cure, 
in some one stage or other, and that medicine is the Liver Pill. 
The name of a branch of the windpipe is Bronchi, add “itis” 
to that, and leave out one “i,” and we have the very familiar name 
of 

BRONCHITIS. 

The name of the outer covering of the lungs is Pleura; add 
“itis” to that, and leave out the “a,” and we have the common 
name of 

PLEURITIS, 

or Pleurisy. Such is the beautiful simplicity of medical nomen¬ 
clature ; simply adding “ itis ” to the Greek or Latin name of a 
part means that the part is in a state of inflammation. The part 
is inflamed, is red because the blood makes it so, for the blood is 
red, and there is more blood there than is natural, hence it is 
redder than natural. 

But more, we know that this is arterial blood, for that is the 
reddest; we also know that this arterial blood is confined in the 
little arteries, that they are fuller of blood than natural, and being 
fuller, these little vessels distend, swell out, like a bladder, take 
up moye room than they are entitled to, and, doing so, press against 
some other part, which must necessarily have less room than it is 
entitled to, hence it complains, as certainly as a man complains 
when he is crowded by his neighbor on the same seat,monopoliz¬ 
ing more than his share of room. The next neighbor to every 
artery is a nerve, and this nerve being pressed, complains, as 
witness the slightest touch of the nerve of a tooth with the tiniest 
point of a needle or bit of softest wood; hence in all inflamma¬ 
tions there is not only redness, but each artery is distended; hence 
there must be swelling, and, as just seen, pain; but as the blood 
is warm, the natural supply brings the natural amount of warmth, 


284 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


but there being more blood there than is natural, there is more 
heat there than is natural, and we call it fever; hence in all in¬ 
flammations there are four things— 

Bedness, Pain, 

Swelling, Heat. 

All this is induced by overfulness of the arteries. They are 

CONGESTED. 

But the veins are as numerous as the arteries, and are capable 
of the same overfulness, the same congestions, inducing by such 
congestions a still larger class of maladies ; these are called 

ZYMOSES, 

or zymotic diseases, from a word meaning filth, which, entering 
the stomach by swallowing and the lungs by breathing, makes its 
way direct into the blood, makes it impure, unhealthy, poisonous, 
changing its color from red to dark, or even black, and its con¬ 
sistency to that of tar in some forms of sickness ; so thick some¬ 
times that when a lancet is introduced it will not flow out; in this 
condition it distends the veins of the part, not necessarily giving 
pain, and if it does it is not the sharp pain which is occasioned by 
the bounding blood of the arteries, where sometimes every throb 
is an agony; but if pain at all, it is a dull hurting, a grumbling. 
All forms of fever, all epidemic diseases, all contagious diseases, 
plagues and pestilences are zymotic diseases, originating in impu¬ 
rities in the atmosphere breathed; when, for example, a person 
goes to the bedside of a man who has the small-pox, if he has not 
been vaccinated, he will take the small-pox, even although he may 
not have touched the patient; it is because minute partioles of 
matter and odors from the sick man were in the air around him, 
and this was taken direct into the lungs. Many a person has 
taken the small-pox from passing one who has it in the street. 

A SUPPOSITION. 

All the great northern lakes from Superior to Ontario are 
reservoirs of water, and are connected together in such a manner, 
that if the latter was emptied in whole or in part, all the other 
lakes would have their supplies of water diminished in the same 


SIMPLICITY OF MEDICAL PRACTICE. 


285 


proportion. If a clock in good running order is stopped, and 
any one wheel is started, the whole clock, every wheel in it, is 
started also. 

There are a number of glands in the human system, which 
may be called reservoirs, or wheels, or manufactories—the liver 
manufactures bile, the kidneys water, and so on; but they are so 
connected that they make a grand machine, which is disordered 
in its workings in all forms of disease, but if you start one wheel, 
the wdiole will soon be in motion. Thus, in bilious fever, if the 
liver can be made to act properly the man gets well; in cholera, 
if the kidneys can be made to do their work and send urine into 
the bladder, we know that the disease is conquered when urina¬ 
tion returns. 

All these glands are reservoirs of blood, hold large quantities 
of it; the liver being the largest, holds the most at one time. But 
in disease the liver is congested, it is altogether too full of blood; 
but if you diminish the amount of blood in it you diminish 
the amount of blood in every other reservoir in the body, in 
every vein, in every artery, hence there is not an ache or a pain 
in any part of the system which will not be lessened in propor¬ 
tion as the liver has its supply of blood lessened ; for when it loses 
its blood the blood of the other parts of the body flows towards it, 
in a sense to fill up the vacuum, as the upper lakes send their 
waters towards Lake Ontario, if any part of its water is drawn 
off. It will be readily seen, however, that the water in Lake Erie 
would fall sooner than that of Lake Huron or Michigan, and it 
would be a considerable time before Superior would be reached, 
because that body of water is so remote from the lowest lake. 
Thus it is, that in relieving the liver of a part of its excess 
of blood, immediate relief from pain or other suffering would be 
experienced in those parts of the body which are more directly 
connected with it, while it might be a long time before remote 
ailments, or those deep-seated, could be reached. Hence, in some 
ailments, the liver pill, which will always act on the liver, will 
always modify some sufferings within a few hours, while it might 
require days to reach those which exist by reason of congestion in 
very remote parts, in the very extremities of the blood-ves¬ 
sels. These comparisons are not literally true or exact, but they 
are sufficiently so to express the idea, the general principle 
of medical action and medical practice ; the prime fact being 


2S0 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


that this liver pill, or any other medicine which so affects the 
liver directly or indirectly as to lessen the amount of blood 
in it, is 

“ GOOD FOR ” 


a hundred or more different diseases ; is curative o± them, the 

* 0 

chief of which are 

TIIE INFLAMMATION3. 

Bronchitis—Branches of the windpipe. 

Cerebritis—Brain. 

Dysenteritis—Dysentery. 

Endocarditis—In the heart. 

Enteritis—The bowels. 

Gastritis—Stomach. 

Hepatitis—Liver. 

Laryngitis—Larynx or voice-making organs. 

Meningitis—Membranes of the brain. 

Myelitis—Spi 11 al marrow. 

Nephritis—Kidneys. 

Pericarditis—About the heart. 

Peritonitis—About the abdomen. 

Pharyngitis—The throat or swallow. 

Pleuritis or pleurisy—About the lungs. 

Pneumonitis, or pneumonia—The lungs. 

Stomatitis—The mouth. 

Trachitis—The windpipe or croup. 

The way to read the above is stomatitis, or inflammation of the 
mouth, because stoma means mouth ; but to see what a wide range 
of ailments the above eighteen diseases include, it is only neces¬ 
sary to state that in stomatitis are included not merely an inflam¬ 
mation of the tongue, such as would be caused by drinking any¬ 
thing too hot; but 2, aphthce, those little ulcers, with whitish sur¬ 
faces, which are so often seen in the mouths of infants; 3 thrush, 
where there are a number of small whitish points within the 
mouth, which, joining, form little curd-like patches, or exudations; 
4, canker, or ulceration on the inner side of the cheeks, on the 
gums or the lining of the lips; 5, gangrene, when any ulcerations 
mortify ; 6, mercurial sore mouth, as in salivation ; 7, nurses’ sore 
mouth. Here are seven forms of disease connected with inflam- 


VENOUS CONGESTION. 



mation of the mouth, hence the eighteen inflammations above-men¬ 
tioned would include at least a hundred different ailments, every 
one of which, in some of its stages, would be benefited by any 
remedy which would act on the liver, which would have the effect 
to lessen the quantity of blood there. 

The following is an enumeration of the various ailments which 
may arise from 

VENOUS CONGESTIONS, 


including all the forms of sickness which owe their origin more 
or less directly to filth, that is, a bad atmosphere, consequently are 
avoidable; let this in passing be impressed on the reader’s mind. 
All zymotic diseases, those arising from a want of cleanliness in 
person, habitation and atmosphere, are unnecessary, can be avoided, 
and the individual suffering from them is responsible for them, 
more or less directly : 

Measles. 

Mumps. 

Plague. 

Pestilence. 

Puerperal fever. 

Scarlatina. 

Syphilis. 

Typhoid fever. 

In short, all contagious diseases, and the great variety of fevers, 
intermittent, remittent, relapsing, pernicious, dengue, or break- 
bone fever. . 

All the above diseases would be favorably affected by any agent 
which would have the effect to cause the liver to part with its 
excess of blood, which would remove its congestion, and which 
would cure if administered in the early stages; although in refer¬ 
ence to some of them, a medicine which would do good in the first 
stages, might injure at a later period ; just as it often happens, 
when the physician has employed all the resources of art and sci¬ 
ence, without seeming good effect, lie is compelled as a last resort 
to withdraw, to be a mere looker-on, a watcher, and 


Cerebro-spinal fever. 
Cholera. 

Diphtheria. 

Diarrhoea. 

Erysipelas. 

Gonorrhoea. 

Hydrophobia. 

Influenza. 


Typhus.. 

Yellow fever. 

Y ariola. 

V arioloid. 
Varicella. 
Vaccine. 

Whooping-cough. 


LEAVE IT TO NATURE. 


Here comes in one of the most important general principles of the 
scientific practice of medicine. The great point in almost all dis- 


288 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


eases is to diminish the amount of blood in the liver; the first 
step in so doing is to make no more blood, by ceasing to eat; all 
sick animals adopt this method instinctively, and so would man, if 
his will, or the power of his appetite, did not override instinct. 
Man is the only animal in the universe who forces his food, who 
eats when he does not feel like it; who, because when he is well 
lie eats heartily, concludes that if lie can only eat heartily he will 
get well. 

When an animal, a pig, is sick he lays down, he rests; if he can, 
lie will get into the warmest place, in the sun, and what is more, 
lie seems to know that it is warmer against something than in an 
open space ; hence he lays up against the side of a house or board 
fence, or rock, or mud-bank. 

Thus, instinct leads the brute creation to adopt the first three 
requisites to the recovery of the health :— 

Abstinence, 

Rest, 

Warmth. 

Reason adds one more, to hasten restoration by using artificial 
means to hurry out of the system that which oppresses it; to wit, 
useless waste and poisonous matters, by employing remedies which, 
acting upon the liver, cause it to convert its excess of blood into 
bile, which bile is made up of those very particles which were op¬ 
pressing and poisoning the system. 

If these things were done, no more need be done in nine out of 
ten of all ordinary ailments; hence, those who are by any means 
thrown on their own resources in the treatment of common sick¬ 
ness, such as is usually incident to ordinary families, could very 
well get along with having no other medicine in the house than 
the three kinds of pills already named : the liver pill, the purga¬ 
tive pill, and the laxative pill; in fact, the first-named is a very 
good substitute for the others, will do all they possibly could do, 
and would reach many cases and conditions which they could 
not; hence instead of burdening the memory and confusing the 
mind with innumerable prescriptions, and the names and details 
of-the symptoms of a great variety of diseases, a simpler, safer, 
and in the end a generally more efficient practice would be,where- 
ever anything at all is the matter, adopt promptly the first three 
measures, and if special relief was not obtained within twelve or 
fifteen hours, then take a liver pill, which will give relief in two 


SPECIAL FRUIT DIET. 


2S9 


or three hours by its general effect on the system, and within ten 
hours more will so act on the stomach, liver, and bowels as to carry 
before it a large amount of liquid and solid matters, amounting 
in all, by the time it has done operating, to several pounds, when 
the most decided relief will he very generally experienced. 

The animal would have been compelled to wait for this general 
cleaning out for a day or two longer, and for a day or two longer 
would have been compelled to suffer, and in this is seen the value 
of medicine. Let the reader bear in mind that in a very large 
class of ailments, whether the names of them are known or not, 
whether they be fevers, or rashes, or what are called 

CATCHING DISEASES, 

as measles, mumps, whooping-cough, and the like, the above 
treatment without the liver pill would lead to a safe- recovery, 
especially if in the matter of 

EATING 

good judgment were used. After a liver pill the appetite begins 
to return generally within a few hours following its action. • It is 
the rule in all cases when purgative or loosening medicines have 
been taken, to eat moderately for the first day, that is, be content 
with taking, at five hours’ interval, some bread and butter and hot 
tea of any kind, or .soup with stale or crust bread, or crackers 
broken into it. If so simple a rule as this was observed after taking 
purgative medicines of any sort, an incalculable benefit would be 
derived, not only in preventing relapses, but in the prevention of 
suffering, and in saving time. 

After the day succeeding the first twenty-four hours from taking 
the pill, the following regulation should be observed in taking food, 
until the usual health is restored, and may be designated as the 

SPECIAL FRUIT DIET. 

Breakfast, some cracked wheat, with butter, salt, or sugar on it, 
followed by fruits, berries, currants, cherries, or melons, in their 
natural ripe, raw, fresh state, a very little sugar may be added, 
but better without, so as to have the full force of the natural acids, 
which have such an admirable effect in cooling off the system; 

absolutely nothing else for breakfast, or the first meal of .the da), 
19 


290 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


fluid or solid. If the invalid does not relish such a breakfast, nor 
a bowl of good, hot, well-seasoned soup of any kind, or oatmeal 
gruel, then he does not need any food, and should wait until he 
does relish it, until he feels that it would taste really good. 

Rot sooner than five hours take the same cracked wheat, or 
wlieaten grits, or coarse Graham, or Indian (corn) bread, some lean 
meat or poultry or fish, and one vegetable, let this be tomatoes when 
they can be had, followed by the same dessert as at breakfast. If 
fresh fruits or berries cannot be had, use such as are canned or 
dried or preserved, with a small amount of sweetening, the less 
the better, for in sickness all sweets are “ feverish.” 

At supper a bowl of porridge or oatmeal gruel, or mush made 
of cornmeal, with a little salt or butter on it, and if to be had, a 
saucer of ripe berries of some kind, nothing else, liquid or solid. 
Rot a particle of food between meals, but may drink as much 
water as wanted, but not within half an hour of eating, because 
any kind of fluid taken into the stomach with fruits or berries, 
causes more or less acidity, unless a person is in vigorous health, 
and many times even then. 

It will be noticed that the meat should be lean, and but once 
a day; also, that there is no limit as to quantity of any of the 
articles of food named. The rule should be, not take enough of 
any one thing to cause a feeling of discomfort afterwards, any 
feeling whatever which will attract the attention unpleasantly. 

In bilious fever, the liver pill may have to be repeated in five or 
six days, and in other cases at intervals of a week or fortnight, or 
a month, for a short time, until the patient feels well; and when 
well enough to go to business or to work, meat may be allowed at 
breakfast as well as at dinner; and when the health is fully estab¬ 
lished, then eat as other people, but at regular times only, making 
the last meal of the day about sundown, strictly of a bowl of mush 
or oatmeal gruel or porridge, or a cup of hot drink, with some 
cold bread and butter. 

The intelligent reader is urgently requested, especially if a pa¬ 
rent or one who has the control of many persons, to try the above 
plan fairly, once or twice, and if he is not charmed with its effi¬ 
ciency it will be one of the marvels of the time. Reference has 
been made to 


CRACKED WHEAT. 


291 


CRACKED WHEAT, 

or wheaten grits, which is simply common wheat grains broken 
up into several small pieces may be boiled slowly for hours until 
very soft, then strained of the water and placed on the table, to 
be eaten with butter or salt or sugar. It is wheat hominy, and 
is very generally kept in provision stores in paper bags, with di¬ 
rections how to prepare it for the table. Any one can crack the 
wheat for himself with a pestle and mortar, or by running it 
through a coarse coffee mill. This mode of using wheat as food 
has two immeasurable advantages. First. The whole nutriment 
of the wheat grain is saved ; at least one-fifth of it is lost in con¬ 
verting wheat into common flour—the most nutritious part, that 
which gives strength to the bones, beauty and durability to the 
teeth, and food for the brain. Second. Many persons who use no 
other form of bread than wheaten grits, especially if ripe raw 
fruits or berries are taken afterwards as dessert, have been per¬ 
manently cured of distressing 

CONSTIPATION. 

Any reader who is troubled with costive bowels is urged to try, 
for a single week, an exclusive diet of cracked wheat, and raw 
or stewed fruits or berries ; it will be especially successful if an 
active walk of an hour or tw r o is taken every day in the open air. 

In the beginning of this chapter it was stated that all diseases 
were included in five classes. Two were mentioned; inflamma¬ 
tory and filthy. There is a third class, the 


caciiexle ; 


literally, a “ bad habit ” of body, a falling away of flesh and 
strength as in consumption, a general wasting of the system. The 
cachectic diseases are 

1. Addison’s Disease. The supra-renal capsules are affected, 
the skin becomes colored like a dark bronze, and death is inevi¬ 
table in the course of years. 

2. Chlorosis is a poverty of blood in young girls, indicated, by 
. a peculiar sallowness of the skin, a pale, mushy, or bloated look, 

with a perverted appetite for clay, charcoal, lead pencils, etc., in 
some cases. This will generally be cured by the special f ruit diet, 
a large amount of outdoor activities, and a liver pill two or three 


202 


HALLS FAMILY. DOCTOR. 


times a month, provided the feet are kept uniformly warm, and 
the bowels are made to act every day. 

3. Diabetes, is an excessive urination of a sweetish taste. 
Twice as many men have it as women ; most common at thirty, 
rare after fifty-five ; more common in the city than the country ; 
caused by exposure to wet and cold; drinking cold water when 
overheated ; by too much sweet food, intemperance, and by in¬ 
juries of the brain and spinal cord. It begins with a slight loss 
of flesh, a general feeling of discomfort, thirst, variably appetite, 
and excessive urination; the sexual and mental powers gradually 
fail, often ending in consumption. The liver is at fault in this 
disease, making too much sugar, which has to be eliminated by 
the kidneys. It is usually a fatal disease ; the true remedy has 
not yet been discovered. To ameliorate it, keep the bowels act¬ 
ing regularly, and have a moderate amount of exercise every 
day, with a liver pill twice a month, if its use seems to be bene¬ 
ficial. 

4. Hemorrhagic Disposition. A tendency to various kinds of 
bleeding from different parts of the body; the best treatment of 
which consists in the special fruit diet, liver pill, and outdoor ac¬ 
tivities. 

5. Litliiasis, or a tendency to form stone or gravel in the blad¬ 
der, kidneys, and gall-ducts. To break up such tendencies a 
liver pill thrice a month, discarding water altogether, and all food 
made out of the grains, all forms of wheat and corn bread, using 
in their place milk, fruits, rice, sago, tapioca, berries, melons, 
oranges, lemons, lean meats, poultry, and fish. 

6. Leucocytlisemia, a diseased condition of the blood; very 
rare and not understood. 

7. Melansemia is also a blood-disease in severe forms of fever, 
induced by bad air, when the “ congestion ” (which article see) is 
so great that the coloring matter of the blood oozes through the 
sides of the vessels and is deposited in the liver and other glands. 
The treatment is the liver pill and special fruit diet. 

8. Mucous Disease. 9. Tuberculosis or consumption. 10. 
Syphilis. 11. Scurvy. 12. Spansemia or bloodlessness, that is 
poor blood, cured by exercise and nourishing food. Besides these 
there are other wasting diseases, such as Bright’s disease of the 
kidneys, cancer, gout, rheumatism. 


NERVOUS DISEASES. 


293 


« 

NEUROSES, 

or nervous diseases, embrace 


Angina Pectoris, 
Apoplexy, 

Asthma, 

Catalepsy, 

Chorea, 
Convulsions, 
Delirium Tremens, 
Dementia, 
Epilepsy, 


Hysteria, 

Insanity, 

Laryngismus, 

Mania, 

Monomania, 

Melancholy, 

Paralysis, 

Tetanus. 


Tiie fifth class of diseases are those which cannot be well clas¬ 
sified, embracing 


Cholera, 

Colic, 

Diarrhoea, 

Dyspepsia, 


Dropsies, 
Hemorrhages, 
Jaundice, 
Worms, etc. 


In addition to all these there are half a hundred 


SKIN-DISEASES, 


manifested by various forms of eruptions, breakings out, varying 
in size, shape, and color to a remarkable extent, all of which are 
referable to the impurity of the blood ; and in proportion to 
its impurity, it does not flow naturally, is congested either in 
the skin or in the liver, hence every form of skin-disease is 
cured by the liver pill and by the special fruit diet, with a rea¬ 
sonable attention to personal cleanliness, pure air, and moderate 
exercise. The reader will therefore see distinctly in reading the 
article on “ The Simplicity of Medical Practice,” “Preliminaries ” 
on page ten, “ Congestion ” on page twenty-one, also the Oneness 
of Disease, that there is a beautiful simplicity in the practice of 
medicine ; that the general principles are clear in character and 
few in number; that three-fourths of all ordinary diseases may be 
treated successfully by the administration of a single medicine, 
the 

LIVER PILL, 

conjoined with warmth, rest, and a system of eating laid down in 
the article headed 


294 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


SPECIAL FLU IT DIET. 

When the patient is able to leave the house, then the cure is to be 
completed by those judicious out-door activities which are so 
frequently referred to in these pages. 

There is another general principle in treating all external ail¬ 
ments affecting the skin, which is of an importance, not too 
strongly expressed by the word vital, for literally life has been 
lost in multitudes of cases by neglect or ignorance. 

ERUPTIONS. 

Whenever there is a breaking out on the skin, it is perfectly 
certain that both the liver and the stomach are disordered, and that 
a liver pill is appropriate, when it is not of insect origin, as in 
itch ; and that life is endangered if anything is done to drive it in. 
Nothing can be safely done to any breaking out of the body, as an 
external application, except with a view to cool the part and to 
keep the skin soft, moist, and with open pores, so as to admit of 
the freest passing out possible of all internal impurities called 
humors. These external applications are of three characters, 
washes, poultices, and ointments. The washes may be applied in 
the form of baths, compresses, or applying the liquid with the 
hand; it may be cold or hot, it may be milk or water or spirits. 

Compresses are simply several folds of woven material, woollen, 
silk, cotton, or linen, dipped in cold, warm, or hot liquids; they 
should be of several thicknesses and thin ; two or three of them— 
one on the part affected, two in the basin of liquid, so that when 
one is taken off another is ready, while the other is cooling or 
warming. 

If the' parts are hot and painful, there is more or less inflamma¬ 
tion, apply cold, by means of compresses, or cooling lotions ; if 
there is no pain or redness, then warm compresses or poultices, 
or spirit applications are better ; any form of spirits, or prepara¬ 
tions containing spirits, called 

TINCTURES, 

such as tincture of camphor, tincture of arnica. Whiskey is a 
tincture; so is rum, brandy, or gin; it is almost instinctive to ap- 


SIMPLICITY OF MEDICAL PRACTICE. 295 

ply these to hurts and pains, simply because they evaporate ra¬ 
pidly, and carry away the extra heat in large quantities ; alcohol 
does the same tiling. Smear a little on the arm or face and a 
cooling sensation is felt instantly ; hence all these washes are said 
to be cooling. 

But spirits are not good for inflammations, because they tend 
to irritate the skin, and to that extent increase the inflammation, 
by attracting the arterial blood to the little vessels which already 
are too full. For the same reason hot water is not applicable in 
inflammatory cases ; it is capable of causing inflammation. But 
warm water and spirits do two things: first they diminish the 
blood, the congestion of the parts, by evaporation; and in addition 
they excite the activity of the congested vessels, causing them 
to send on their fluid contents. Hence, the two great general 
principles of external applications: cold water where there is in¬ 
flammation and pain; warm water or spirits or tinctures where 
there is congestion of the veins, as seen in bruises, where there is 
discoloration or swelling, without heat; and more of a hurting 
than pain ; a dull sensation rather than acute. The advantage 
which 

POULTICES 

have over washings or compresses is, that they need not be so often 
reapplied; they are better for the night; instead of being changed 
every two or five or ten minutes, they can remain an hour or two 
or more, or half a day or all night. 

Those poultices are best which are least weighty, and which 
remain moist the longest. A great ado is often made about the 
particular sort of poultice to be used ; one advises to take the en¬ 
trails of a live chicken and apply at once, but the entrails of a 

DEAD DOG, 

if just killed, would be just as efficacious, for both are moist and 
warm, and would remain moist and warm for several hours. 

A scraped potato, or scraped apple, or scraped turnip, or 
scraped anything else are great remedies in the hands of some 
for preventing lock-jaw, resulting from a nail or other metallic 
point running into the foot or hand. It is the moisture and the 
compactness of the scraped material; if bruised, the effect would 


290 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


be the same; the scraping is applied, a bandage is put over it, it 
soon gets warm, remains warm and moist for hours. But in all 

these cases 

WATER BANDAGES, 

whether cold or warm, are better, because they are lighter and 
stop up the pores of the skin less; but they dry earlier than 
poultices unless applied properly. The liydropathists accom¬ 
plish almost miraculous results, sometimes, by the judicious and 
patient application of water to diseased subjects ; the proper plan 
is thus: have four, five, or six folds of Irish linen which has been 
softened by wear. For this reason old linen handkerchiefs and 
sheets and shirts should be always laid away by a careful house¬ 
keeper, to be ready in cases of sickness and wounds, more valua¬ 
ble then than their weight in silver. By there being several folds 
the warmth and dampness are continued longer, and air being 
between, it does not lie so heavily on the injured part. 

It is better to press out the water a little to prevent its dribbling 
on the clothing or bedding, lay it smoothly over the ailing part, 
and spread over it a piece of oiled silk, or other dry cloth 
if there is no silk at hand ; but the silk is better because it is more 
impervious to air, and besides keeps the warm steam in better, 
and thus insures a softer, moister condition of the skin; this oiled 
silk should, for the same reason, extend about an inch beyond the 
edges of the wetted cloth, as by its pressure on the skin it prevents 
air from coming in and drying the compress. In this way a 

WATER POULTICE 

may be kept wet enough for hours, without the necessity of 
change. Remember that poultices do no good unless they are 
kept moist. There is another important first principle in the 
treatment of diseases besides the liver pill, and the special fruit 
diet, and the cold applications to fevered and inflamed parts, and 
water dressings, and spirit lotions to bruises and sluggish sores. 
There are ailments which give pain, more or less excessive; the 
pain may be. of so prominent a feature that its relief is imperative 
before anything else can be done. The first most available thing 
is a ' 


CHLOROFORM LINIMENT. 


297 


MUSTARD PLASTER. 

Mix ground mustard with, vinegar, or, if none at hand, watery 
some add flour. This diminishes the strength, hence its efficacy. 
Vinegar is better and is more cooling. Spread it over a linen or 
cotton cloth to within an inch of the edge ; this prevents its get¬ 
ting on the clothing and staining it. Then spread on the skin a 
piece of dampened paper, hut very thin muslin is preferable, the 
thinner the better, the object being to prevent the mustard from 
blistering the skin, which it does without diminishing the efficacy. 
As the mustard soon loses its strength, it is rather better to let it 
remain; if, however, it cannot be endured, remove it after it has 
begun to burn considerably. This mustard plaster need not be 
placed immediately over the painful part—that may be sometimes 
impracticable—it may be placed several inches away. This mus¬ 
tard plaster relieves by drawing the blood to the surface, thus re¬ 
lieving the ailing part from the excess of blood which causes the 
pain. A mustard plaster is necessarily a temporary remedy; it is 
to give time for more efficient and radical and permanent means 
of relief. Suppose, for example, a patient is taken with great nau¬ 
sea at the stomach and vomiting, as from a bilious condition of 
the system; spread a mustard plaster over the abdomen or stom¬ 
ach, and the nausea will be relieved almost instantaneously, then 
give a liver pill, keeping the patient warm in bed ; or suppose 
there are colicky pains, proceed in the same manner. 

But there may be pains in parts too deep-seated, or too incon¬ 
venient for a mustard poultice, then a liniment may be used; but 
it is so powerful in its operation that it should be kept on hand 
as a last resort: 

CHLOROFORM 

liniment, made by putting equal parts of chloroform, sweet oil, 
and spirits of camphor in a bottle, shake it rapidly, pour some 
of it in a small saucer, dip in three or four folds of linen, mus¬ 
lin, or flannel, one or two inches across, lay it over the sj)ot, cover 
it with a folded handkerchief and let it remain a quarter or half 
a minute, not longer, as the skin may be blistered; from the 
shaking of the bottle to laying it on the skin the least time pos¬ 
sible should be spent, as the .chloroform and other ethereal in- 


298 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


gredients rapidly disappear. The bottle should have a ground-glass 
stopper, and even it should have some oiled silk or india-rubber 
tied over it, to prevent evaporation ; but such a bottle of liniment 
should be kept in every family. Thus it will be seen, if the 
reader will turn to the article on poisons, that every ordinary 
sickness and pain can be relieved or cured by having in the 
house four things— 

First. A box of liver pills. 

Second. A box of kitchen mustard. 

Third. A bottle of chloroform liniment. 

Fourth. A bottle of linseed oil. 

With these in the application of the doctrine of 

CONGESTION, 

there is no human malady which cannot be alleviated or cured, 
if curable at all; there is no human pain which cannot be miti¬ 
gated, if mitigation is possible; the relief to be completed by 
keeping up the general health, according to the principles laid 
down in that article with the aid of 

SrECIAL FRUIT DIET. 

If the intelligent reader will turn to any book which has at¬ 
tached to it the name of 

MEDICAL PRACTICE, 

whether for family use or professional readers; whether in allo¬ 
pathy, homoeopathy, or hydropathy; or if he will go to any physi¬ 
cian of high repute and honorable standing among his brethren, it 
will be always found that there are a few favorite remedies upon 
which most reliance is to be placed to do the real hard work. In 
Congress, in any legislative assembly, in any political gathering, in 
all chinch judicatories, it will never fail to be found that a very few 
men do all the real work, that which is most important. Less than 
half a dozen men made the two great branches of the Presbyteri¬ 
an Church one; less than half a dozen men, in the Methodist 
Church, induced a million of people to assent to lay delegation; 
less than half a dozen men rule the whole continent of Europe; 
less than half a dozen men hold in their hands the destinies of the 
many millions of the British empire. 


SIMPLICITY OF MEDICAL PRACTICE. 


299 


The greatest and most successful surgeon of modern times did 
everything for half a century, from the reduction of a joint, the 
extraction of a stone, the curing of a fracture, to the cutting off of 
a man’s head, with three things: a vial of tartar emetic, a razor- 
edged knife, and a strip of muslin twenty feet long,—Professor 
P. W. Dudley, of Transylvania University in its palmiest days; 
sometimes he called in the assistance of warm water and boiled 
turnips, with brown bread. 

Another man, with a logic that, never was refuted, John Esten 
Cook, practised medicine triumphantly for fifty years, his whole 
stock in trade consisting of one pound each of calomel, aloes, and 
rhubarb; a pill, containing two grains of each, mixed up with cold 
water, was his great stand-by ; he usually gave two or three at 
a time ; if these did not act, gave six; and so on doubling at each 
failure of action. He was a perfect Boanerges in his way, and 
lived and died in honor and success. 

No Allopathic physician could get along without his calomel 
and tartar emetic. Hahnemann himself would have died long be¬ 
fore he got a name, had it not been for aeon., ars., bell., and bry. 
An Eclectic could not keep his shop open a week without podo- 
phyllin, the May-apple root. 

And Hydropathy would founder any day without a wet pack 
or a sitz-bath. All these things are so because the fundamental 
principles of successful medical practice are few and simple. 
When the body is weary, rest it. When burning up, cool it. 
When racked with pain, soothe it. When pressed to death’s door 
by morbid and excessive accumulations, put no more into it, 
empty it—all to be done by going to bed, abstaining from food, 
and purgation; then to build up, not by tonics, not by spirits, not 
by bitters, but by out-door air, by moderate activities, and a nutri¬ 
tious diet of coarse bread, ripe fruits, lean meats, and garden 

vegetables. 

The reader may rest assured that what these fail to do in ordi¬ 
nary diseases everything else will fail to do, and that, on the whole, 
the million and one fiddling prescriptions with which our medical 
books abound do more harm than good, by their everlasting an¬ 
noyance of the patient, waking him out of his sleep, outi aging 
his mouth with villanous tastes, filling the stomach with succes¬ 
sive poisons one after another, sometimes half a dozen in a day. 
The truth is, Nature herself cures half the ordinary sicknesses that 


300 


BALDS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


are cured, and time cures many. Sometimes a less active medi¬ 
cine will accomplish the desired result in a given case, or a more 
palatable one may be desired; but for all that, calomel, tartar em¬ 
etic, and opium were the great stand-bys of educated medical 
practitioners of a past age, are now, and possibly will be, until 
men have learned the lesson not to get sick. A few have learned 
it and lived long, healthily, happily, and successfully as far as use¬ 
fulness and influence and money are concerned; and there is no 
necessary reason why the number should not be indefinitely enlarg¬ 
ed, on the old-fashioned principles that “what was done once can 
be done again,” “wliat ought to be, can be,” “ what Peter has 
done, Paul can do.” 




CHOKING. 

♦ 

It is best to prevent it by cutting up every particle of food, 
especially meats, as fine as a pea, to eat slowly, not put much in 
the mouth at a time, and always swallow deliberately. 

In the case of children a good stroke in the back or shoulders 
with the palm of the hand is very effective. 

If a pin or fishbone or similar thing has stuck in the pas¬ 
sage, be composed, and let some one equally composed at least, 
look down into the throat; it may be seen and caught with the 
fingers or a pair of pincers or tongs, if nothing smaller is at 
hand. 

If there is a soft obstacle, as a piece of meat or bread, or any¬ 
thing which could not hurt the stomach, push it down with the 
handle of a knife or fork or spoon, with a roll or two of cloth 
over it to make a bunch, or place five or six grains of tartar emetic 
on the back of the tongue, or a level teaspoonfnl of ipecac powder ; 
as they dissolve, the system is nauseated, and there is a relaxation 
of the parts. 

If anything hard or insoluble has been swallowed, patiently 
wait until Nature carries it through by her own operations. 

If a hair or string lodges in the throat, it is more promptly 
carried downwards by swallowing a mouthful of bread or pud¬ 
ding, than by drinking water. 




ABSCESSES. 


301 


ABSCESSES. 

Abscess is a u departure ” or “ leaving,” and means a coming 
from or separation; as applied to the human body, it is a yellow 
matter detaching itself from the body, a part of the substance of 
which it was. Abscesses are internal and external; there is 
abscess of the liver, abscess of the lungs; or they may be on the 
outside, on the surface of the body. 

Abscesses are acute or chronic; the acute get well in a few 
days; the chronic remain for weeks or months or years, even for 
a lifetime. 

Abscesses, like all ordinary diseases, such as cough, dysentery, 
diarrhoea, catarrh, and hundreds of other forms of human maladies, 
are indications that something wrong is going on in the system, 
that Nature is endeavoring to relieve and cure herself by detach¬ 
ing something from the body which is now foreign to it, and 
of which she seeks to rid herself. 

The body is life, every atom of it is living, and when an atom 
by any means is alive no longer, it is no longer a part of the 
human frame; it becomes an incumbrance, nature takes alarm 
lest it might clog her machinery, and seeks by all the means in 
her power to pass it out, to convey it away from the body, as 
the bees of a hive will kill and carry out any intruder on their 
premises. 

In the working of all machinery there is friction, and friction 
makes waste inevitabl} 7 , and if continued the machine eventually 
wears out. This process of friction and waste is constantly going 
on in the body, which is as constantly conveying it out of itself, 
because all its workings are to push outwards. There is a groove 
or curve about the eye along which all the dust which strikes 
against the ball is washed out by the fluids, which in excess are 
called tears, and which convey this dust and other foreign mat¬ 
ters out at the corners of the eye or through an inner passage 
into the nose ; when nature cannot pass foreign, or dead, or waste 
matters out of the body fast enough by the ordinary processes, 
an extra effort is made to accomplish the object; that effort is self- 
operating, is instinctive, wholly outside of voluntary human 
control; for example, if too much dust gets into the eye, or if a 


302 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR 


hard particle is driven into it, as a cinder from a locomotive, 
nature makes an extra amount of water out of the blood, and we 
say the eye waters ; this water is made out of the blood, is a part 
of the blood; in fact, a large portion of the blood is water, so 
constituted, that when extra water is needed for any purpose, as 
in this- very washing of the eye, in diarrhoea, and in other 
forms of disease, there may be a reservoir of it in the blood. To 
withdraw the water out of the blood, there is in the eye and in 
the bowels a machinery in operation which accomplishes the ob-. 
ject; this machinery is the action of what are called glands, or 
manufactories, which are located in every part of the body; 
some to take water from the blood as in the eye and the kidneys ; 
the liver is a gland, many times larger than any other in the 
system; its business is to withdraw, to secern the bile from the 
blood ; if it does not do this fast enough the blood has too much 
bile in it; so much as to tinge it yellow, which is the natural 
color of healthy bile, and we recognize it, first in the whites of 
the eve, which are seen to be yellowish. 

But if more water is wanted in any part of the body than is 
natural, if an extra supply is needed, inasmuch as the water is 
taken from the blood, then there must be an extra supply of 
blood. But nature fails not to send that extra supply through 
the arteries, and sends it so fast and in such increased quantities 
to the part which needs the extra water, that it becomes redder 
than natural, just as the eye becomes more yellow than natural 
when there is an unusual amount of bile in the blood. This 
abnormally increased amount of blood in a part we call 

* 

INFLAMMATION. 

Thus it is seen that inflammation is curative. Now, as applied 
to Abscesses, they come on by an increased redness of the part. 
If superficial, this redness increases steadily, damming up, and 
swelling, and reddening, and distending, pushing the yielding 
skin upwards, causing intense pain. 

But this increasing quantity of blood is not to bring an in¬ 
creased amount of water to that part, but it is freighted, loaded 
with waste, dead, impure, and diseased particles which it has 
washed out before it from the most remote parts of the body, and 
when it gets to the locality of the abscess the diseased and dead 


ABSCESSES. 


303 


particles are separated from the blood, and are there deposited 
and collected in the shape of yellow matter which constantly ac¬ 
cumulates and dams up, until the skin being unable any longer 
to hold it, parts, is said to “ break,” as in the case of a boil; the 
yellow matter, the impurities of the whole body are poured out 
of it, and the person begins to get well; feels better than he ever 
did in his life before. Ilis friends confirm it by saying he never 
looked better. This is because the impurities have been taken 
from the system, leaving it supplied with a healthy, life-giving 
blood. Thus it is that an Abscess was said to be curative. In 
the same connection, and for the same reason, although not an 
exact statement, there is a common saying that “ Boils are 
healthy.” An abscess, like a boil, is a means of health ; leaves 
the body in a more healthy condition, but at the same time 
proves that it had been in a diseased state, and the abscess, like 
the boil, was an instrumentality by wdiicli Nature cured herself. 
A boil or an abscess may appear at any part of the body, but it 
always determines itself to that part which is the weakest; made 
weakest by an accidental bruise, or puncture, or wound, or other 
cause. 

A man of wealth was one day stepping into his carriage; his 
foot slipped in such a way that a considerable portion of the skin 
was scraped from the shin bone ; it becamed inflamed, a running 
6ore was set up, and immense amounts of yellow matter were dis¬ 
charged ; he was ill for a lono; time, and finallv died. lie drank 
liquor largely, never drunk,, but always full; the whole system 
was so clogged with impurities, that before it could clear itself 
he became exhausted in the effort, the work of cleansing was 
not completed, and the man died. 

Running sores, boils, abscesses, are essentially one and the 
same thing; they are evidences of a diseased condition of the 
whole Tody, of bad blood. Nature, in the way described, seeks 
to relieve, to purify herself; hence the treatment of abscesses 
should be such as will help Nature, by promoting, the running of 
the matter. But they are all painful, troublesome, more or less 
disgusting, and it is very natural that the persons thus afflicted 
should want them cured, that is, healed up; and following the 
well-meant advice of friends, or of any benevolent stranger mean¬ 
ing well, means are too often taken to heal them up, and they 
are delighted with the result thus far, but not a little later. 


304 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


Anne D., a Christian lady of great worth, aged seventy-five, 
had been a long time troubled with a running sore on the leg. 
A person in the neighborhood, who had the reputation of curing 
ugly sores, was sent to her by a friend to cure her sore. In a 
comparatively short time the sore ceased running, healed up 
“ beautifully.” In three days after, she died. Nature had been 
thwarted, the poisonous matter which she was throwing out of 
the system was shut in, to rankle, to corrupt, to stagnate, to clog, 
and the wheels of life were stopped forever. 

These statements have been made thus at length to impress 
on the mind several most important truths, of a specially prac¬ 
tical nature, because they are at the very foundation of all true, 
safe medical practice. 

1. All symptoms, all pain, all that is abnormal, unusual, 
unnatural in the system, should be regarded as an effort of Na¬ 
ture to free the body from actual or impending evil. 

2. The operations of nature should not be interfered with, 
except in rare cases, and by special intelligent medical advice. 

3. The effort in every disease should be to know what is the 
matter, what Nature is doing, and to what extent, and how best 
to help her. Some first general principles will be found run¬ 
ning through every page of this volume, for the treatment of 
every form of disease, and are purposely brought forward in the 
first important article in the book so as to give the reader 
the earliest opportunities of impressing his mind with these 
general principles, which are fundamental in their nature, which 
are far-reaching in their scope, and almost of universal applica¬ 
tion. 

SYMPTOMS OF ABSCESS. 

Acute Abscess shows redness, if superficial; with increasing 
redness comes pain, at first sharp, which becomes dull and throb¬ 
bing as the swelling increases, and the yellow matter begins to 
form in a little conical point at first, growing in quantity until it 
is sometimes felt to fluctuate ; all along there has been more or 
less fever, local and general; now there are little chills and 
shiverings. There is general uneasiness in the whole person; 
the skin bursts, the matter escapes, and the process is completed. 

Chronic Abscess goes on more slowly ; for some time there is 
nothing much out of the way to all appearance, until a swelling 


ABSCESSES. 


305 


is observed. Matter slowly forms, but it is thin and flaky, like 
curds. If there is vigor in the system, the cavity left by the 
emptying of the abscess is gradually filled up by the deposit of 
healthy particles from a pure blood, which becomes purified at 
the instant, and is formed into solid flesh. 

If, however, the person is weak, is old, or has a feeble con¬ 
stitution, the cavity does not fill up, because flesh particles are 
not deposited; there is rather sinking; there is no power of 
healing; there is not life enough in the blood to give life to the 
deposited particles, which instead begin to decay, and often form 
an ill-swelling, bloody-like matter to be discharged in large quan¬ 
tities for months and years, unless a more healthful condition is 
brought about, or the ugly matter is reabsorbed into the system, 
goes back into the blood, poisons it, gives the hectic hue to the 
cheek, the friendly warning of a certain and speedy death. 

The Treatment of Acute Abscess, as in boils and kindred 
affections, most generally advised, is to let them alone, unless 
their spread is likely to reach parts which, if injured, may result 
in serious harm ; then it may be well to use a lancet, and let the 
matter out; but as a general rule, it is better to let Nature ac¬ 
complish the object in her own way, which is to divide the skin 
when everything is ripe. 

If, however, the abscess is very painful, dip several folds of 
cloths in warm water, to be placed on the part, and frequently 
renew until relief is experienced. A poultice of milk and bread 
applied to the part, to be softened or moistened with warm water 
from time to time, tends to take off the heat and fever and pain, • 
which, indeed, is sometimes necessary in order to afford sleep. 
See under head of Poultices. 

In chronic abscesses the yellow matter should not be allowed 
to accumulate, but should be let out from time to time, other¬ 
wise it may be absorbed into the system, poisoning it, and leading 
to the fatal results before named. Sometimes abscesses heal up of 
themselves before the matter has been entirely removed; in such 
cases new issues should be made by using blister plasters near 
the spot, so as to cause an artificial running. But the rule should 
be always, if the abscess does not discharge itself, to let out the 
matter so as to prevent any large accumulation, to avoid the 
dangers above referred, to. 

Constitutional Treatment .—That is, what can be done in an 
20 • 


aoc 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


indirect way through the functions of the body, whether by 
medicine, air, exercise, diet, or otherwise. This principle of con¬ 
stitutional treatment so often comes into requisition in the treat¬ 
ment of disease, that it is most important to understand the 
philosophy of it most thoroughly; in truth, it is at the very foun¬ 
dation of the true system of medication, to act upon disease 
through the general system. 

* 

ABSCESS OF THE LIVER 

is not an uncommon disease; it is out of sight, and cannot be 
reached directly; to cut into it with a knife would kill in 
nearly all nases, so abscess of the liver should be treated “ Con¬ 
stitutionally,” by remedies which act upon the general system, 
thus: an abscess, boil, “ imposthume,” as Washington used to 
call a boil, carbuncle, or any other “ sore ” which delivers 
yellow matter, is proof that the blood is in an impure, in a 
diseased condition, and that the system, or Nature, is endeavoring 
to pass the impurities out of the body through the abscess. The 
aim of constitutional treatment is to supply to the body health¬ 
ful particles to take the place of the diseased or poisonous or 
waste particles which are passing out through 'the sore in the 
form of matter, generally yellow, at other times mingled with 
blood or watery portions; for if this substitution is not made, 
the body is wasting, is losing its strength. The uninformed 
soon see this, and begin at once to take means to “ keep up the 
strength,” some by eating more when they do not digest what 
they already eat; because the stomach is weak, like the body, 
in general because of its taking on its proportionate share of 
debility, by which it is not able to get out of the food the 
nourishment which it contains ; under such circumstances, to 
eat more food, to crowd more into the stomach, when what is 
already there is not properly managed, is like increasing the load 
of an already overburdened animal as a means of aiding it in¬ 
doing its work. 

In this blind effort many eat when they do not feel like it; eat 
without an appetite, force the food on the stomach, giving as a 
reason they cannot get strong unless they eat, and that unless 
they get more strength they will certainly grow weaker, and will 
soon have to go to bed. Others resort to the use of porter, ale, 


ABSCESSES. 


307 


beer, and the stronger preparations of alcohol, to give them 
strength to digest their food; with the inevitable effect of 
making them worse, for two reasons. 

First. Alcohol does not give one atom of strength to the 
body; a man feels stronger after taking a drink, but it is only 
because he takes the strength of the next half hour, and with the 
strength of the present he seems to be twice as strong as he was 
before, and he really is; but in half an hour after, he will be 
twice as weak as he would have been had he not taken the 
spirits. If a man has a sum of money in bank, and draws a 
certain amount a day for the day’s expenses, he may live more 
liberally to-day if he draws to-day’s allowance and to-morrow’s 
also, but then to-morrow he has nothing whatever to live upon. 
This is the ground of all that deceptiveness connected with the 
almost universal notion that drinking liquor increases the 
strength. 

Second. There is another fallacy connected with this habit of 
drinking spirits to keep up the strength when a person is getting 
weak through the effects of a running sore ; the liquor immediately 
increases the circulation, sends more blood to the abscess, making 
more matter to be discharged; thus ultimately increasing the 
debility ; and not only this : it increases the inflammation, and 
this increases the pain. 

The strength wasted by running sores cannot be increased by 
forcing food into the stomach, by eating without ,an appetite, 
nor by drinking liquor; both these positively increase the debil¬ 
ity ; the same truth applies to all forms of debility, to all forms 
of wasting disease. To increase the strength in such cases is ab- 
solutely necessary to a cure, but there is only one way of doing 
it. ‘ 

First, Husband the strength by rest and sleep. 

Second, Add to it by improving the digestion, and by increas¬ 
ing the appetite, which must be appeased by eating the best food 
prepared in the best manner ; that is, in a way to retain the most 
of its natural juices and qualities, as more fully shown in the 
author’s book entitled “ Health by Good Living.” 

Under the heading of “ Dyspeptics,” details are given which, if 
carried out with judgment and discretion, will greatly aid in 
improving the digestion and increasing the appetite. 

Acute abscesses begin to discharge in about three weeks, last- 


308 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


ing a month or two ; before or at the time of their beginning to 
discharge, the fever or inflammation and pain often take away 
the appetite; this is Nature’s first instinctive effort to a cure, for 
in the preparation to discharge, there is a certain commotion in 
the system, such a summoning up of strength for an effort, that it 
would be out of place to burden it with the digestion of large 
amounts of food; but when the discharge begins to take place, 
then means should be used to increase the strength so as to en- 
able the constitution more completely to throw off all the poison¬ 
ous and impure particles which disease the body. 

Chronic abscesses, which are often internal, such as in the 
liver, womb, or other interior localities, continue for months, the 
time depending on the extent of the diseased condition, on the 
vitality of the patient—that is, his strength of constitution—and 
the character of the remedial means used. The various kinds 
of abscesses derive their*name from their locality: if in the 
lungs, it is called “Empyema;” if in the flesh, “Boils;” if 
in the fingers, “ Whitlow ; ” if in the loins, “ Lumbar Abscess; ” 
if in the neck, “King’s Evil;” if in the knee-joint, “White 
Swelling,” etc., to which articles refer. 

The Allopathic or Old School treatment of acute abscesses 
consists in the application of cold cloths and poultices to keep 
the parts moist, so as to lessen the heat of the part by the constant 
evaporation going on ; eating plain food in small quantities, and 
at regular intervals, not less than five hours apart generally, but 
oftener and in smaller quantities if there is great debility ; in 
regulating the bowels to one full, free daily action. See Bowels, 
Regulation of. 

In external chronic abscesses, cold applications should be 
made, with a liberal diet of plain, nourishing food, and regular 
bowels, acting daily ; if the strength is not satisfactory, use any 
one of the remedies known under the head of Tonics, which 
seem to have the most desirable effects. 

IEEITAELE TJLCEKS. 

Sometimes the edges of abscesses become hard, red, and pain¬ 
ful ; foment them with cloths dipped in warm water, changing 
them frequently until relief is given, and renew as often as there 
is occasion. 


ABSCESSES. 


309 


INDOLENT ULCERS. 

Sometimes there is so little vitality that an ulcered abscess will 
not heal, and extra growths spring up; these and the hard edges, 
after being softened with fomentations as above, may be removed 
by some of the “ Caustics/’ which see; burnt alum powdered, 
often answers every purpose. 

In the treatment of abscesses and all forms of ulcers, boils, 
etc., both Allopathists, Homoeopathists, and Ilydropathists, with 
minor distinctive differences of action, urge their respective 
constitutional treatment as being specially applicable. This is 
described under the head of “ Constitutional Treatment.” 

Acidity, called by some Heart-Burn, and by others “ Sour 
Stomach,” has its seat in the stomach, but is felt in the throat, 
about the little hollow at the bottom of the neck, as a smarting 
or burning; sometimes there is a burning or scalding feeling ex¬ 
tending from the stomach upwards to the throat. These sensa¬ 
tions are also occasioned by a bad cold, but when arising from 
the condition of the stomach, they are felt in connection with 
eating from a few minutes to an hour or more, after a regular 
meal. In aggravated cases, this acidity is so great as to disturb 
the stomach, and cause a liquor to be belched or gulped up, 
which sometimes takes the skin off the tongue, but more gener¬ 
ally it is the acrid gases which come up from the stomach; but 
whether the burning, smarting, or scalding be present, the cause 
is the same—Indigestion, which see. This indigestion is inability 
of the stomach to manage the food eaten, liealthfully, it decays, 
it decomposes, rots, giving rise to fermentation. 

The only safe and healthful method of curing acidity is in 
the proper digestion of the food, by the following general rules: 

1st. Eat at three regular times every day. 

2d. There should be not less than five hours between each meal. 

3d. Eat nothing whatever between meals. 

4th. Take no desserts. 

5tli. Drink nothing cold at meal time, or within half an hour 
of eating; at other times drink as much cold water as is wanted. 

o ' 

6th. If any liquid is taken at meal times, it should be hot, and 
not more than a common teacupful. 


310 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


7th. The last meal of the day should consist of a piece of 
cold bread and butter, and a cup of hot drink. 

Sometimes acidity is caused by taking any liquid at meals. 
Each must observe for himself, and experiment on himself. It 
can be easily done, and safely ascertained, thus: if there is any 
acidity after a meal, drink less and less fluid after such meal; 
if the acidity is lessened by so doing, then it is an indication 
that either no fluid should be taken, or only so much as will not 
be followed by any acidity. Many cases occur to experienced 
physicians in large cities, where.acidity comes on regularly after 
supper, causing eructations, belcliings, rumblings in the bowels, 
and general disturbance, but on ceasing to use tea for supper, 
all the symptoms disappear after following it up for a few days. 

On other occasions, when persons have taken only tea and 
toast for supper, it was the toasted bread which occasioned the 
acidity ; and on its disuse, and the employment of common cold 
light bread and butter, prompt relief was obtained. The same 
principles apply to eating, acidity being caused by eating too 
much, or by a certain kind of food; but by far the greater num¬ 
ber of cases result from the quantity taken, rather than the 
quality. 

The first step to be taken is to cease taking any liquid what¬ 
ever at meals. Second, diminish the quantity by one quarter the 
first time. If the acidity is less, keep on diminishing until there 
is no acidity at all. Continue this amount for some daj's, and 
then increase the quantity of food by slow degrees if there is an 
appetite for it. If, however, it is found that a less and less 
quantity of food does not materially abate the acidity, it may be 
taken for granted that the disturbance is caused by the quality of 
the food. Then, first leave off one thing, next another, exercis¬ 
ing acute and judicious observation the whole time, and be gov¬ 
erned accordingly. 

There are a variety of medicines which “ cure ” acidity, using 
the w r ord in the common acceptation of the term among unintel¬ 
ligent persons, a disappearance of the symptoms being considered 
by them a cure. It is not intended here to name the various 
remedies which are employed to cure acidity in this meaning of 
the word; for it would only be putting it in the power of the 
reader to injure himself. Besides, there is many an intelligent 
man who would commit an indiscretion in eating when he knew 


ABSCESSES. 


311 


that lie had at hand a certain, agreeable, and speedy remedy foi 
the acidity; whereas if no such remedy were known he would fear 
to indulge. 

There are, however, two remedies, simple, always at hand, 
costing little or nothing, and promptly efficacious—powdered 
charcoal, and saleratus. • Every one knows what these are. A 
common wood tire in the kitchen or parlor affords both in abund¬ 
ance ; for a bit of charcoal needs only to be powdered into dust, 
stirred into half a glass of water, and swallowed down. It affords 
relief by its capability of absorbing a hundred times its bulk of 
gas or wind in the stomach or bowels. 

Saleratus is found in abundance on the kitchen shelf; half a 
teaspoonful of it, more or less, stirred in a glass of water and 
drank down, is considered a simple, certain, and speedy “ cure ” 
for acidity. 

This is as good a place as any in a book like this, intended for 
the reader’s instruction and real good, to show an important prac¬ 
tical truth in reference to that large class of remedies which are 
familiar, “ simple,” and can “ do no harm, if they do no good; ” 
“ simple ” being the designation of anything which is familiar, 
known, seen, or handled every day. 

If you have no saleratus in the house, take a pint of common 
wood .ashes from the fireplace, stir in a pint or more of water ; 
pour off the liquid next day, and boil it until it is as thick as 
molasses; let it dry. That is saleratus. Nothing but the strength 
which water draws out of wood ashes; nothing could be more 
simple. 

SODA. 

Soda wfill answer the same purpose, for it is the same thing, 
only that saleratus is made of the ashes of wood, and soda is 
made of the ashes of seaweed. 

A gentleman in London was advised to take some soda every 
day for a troublesome acidity. lie did so; it acted like a charm, 
instantaneously; but, like most remedies, it was necessary that 
it should be taken oftener—that is, after each meal, instead of 
after dinner. It was next observed that it required a larger 
quantity to effect full relief and a perfect “ cure.” lie was per¬ 
fectly delighted with the remedy, and took occasion to recom¬ 
mend it to every friend, acquaintance, or stranger who happened 


312 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


to complain of “Acidity” in his presence; in fact, be thought it 
was a humanity to disseminate a piece of information which was 
of such general and frequent application. 

One beautiful spring morning he called at the house of a newly 
married daughter in London, and while conversing w T it.h her 
pleasantly at the garden gate, he dropped down dead. On ex¬ 
amining the body for the purpose of ascertaining the cause of his 
death, several ounces of saleratus were found to have been im¬ 
pacted in a solid, heavy lump in his bowels, in such a location as 
to cause the result. 

Saleratus, like sugar or salt stirred in a cup of water, seems to 
disappear and be all liquid; but if the cup is set away long 
enough to allow the water to be evaporated, the full amount of 
these articles is found at the bottom of the cup. The saleratus 
was taken into the stomach in the form of a liquid, but wdien it 
reached the bowels, the liquid portion was taken up by appropri¬ 
ate vessels of the bod}q but the solid parts could not be taken up 
and accumulated with the results named. 

Precisely the same processes go on in the use of 

POWDERED CHARCOAL. 

« 

As an antacid, it will absorb twelve per cent of moisture, and a 
very great amount of gas in the stomach and intestines; and in 
this way is said to purify the breath. Some use it for pain in 
the stomach and 

HE ART-BURN - , 

in doses of from one to four teaspoonfuls at a time. In doses 
of a tablespoon every half hour, it sometimes has a remarkable 
effect in removing obstinate 

CONSTIPATION. 

But “ simple ” as it is, powdered charcoal has been known to 
accumulate in large quantities in the intestines, and become an 
impacted mass, causing very great discomfort; even in the small 
quantities used for 

TOOTH POWDERS, 

careful and judicious dentists are averse to its employment, as 
it tends to insinuate itself under the gums, separating them from 
the teeth, and thus rendering them liable to decay. 


THE HAIR. 


313 


These remarks have been made in reference to Antacids in 
general, to show the people plainly that they never eradicate 
a complaint, while they do have dangerous and even fatal effects 
when used largely. All the good they do is to alleviate for the 
present, leaving the causes of the symptoms, which they are taken 
to relieve or remove, still in operation. A wiser plan is to use 
all possible means to avoid the causes of the symptoms for 
which they are taken. See articles on Dyspepsia. 

• — — .- - 


TIIE HAIR 

grows by projecting itself longitudinally, like the finger nail. 
If it is drawn between the thumb and finger from the root to 
the other end, it is smooth to the feel; but if in the opposite di¬ 
rection, it is rough; showing what is the fact, that each hair is 
covered, and protected with its own feathers or scales. Every 
hair rises from a little bulb just under the upper layer of skin ; 
this bulb, which can be seen by pulling out a hair “ by the roots,” 
contains a pulpy substance, which is the food of each hair; if 
this pulpy substance is fully supplied to the bulb, the hair grows, 
and if not, it dies; this pulp, as it gets upward, is converted 
into hair, and pushes all before it, even if the hair is a yard long. 

Sometimes, from fever or other causes, this pulpy matter is not 
supplied, or only partially so, and the hair falls out for want of 
nourishment; but often in such cases, as the scalp becomes more 
healthy, the capsule or bulb becomes full again, and the hair 
grows as before, sometimes more rapidly; all hair-oils ever sold 
have obtained their reputation by their having been applied just 
at that juncture when Nature w T as resuming her healthful action. 

These bulbs are roundish on the scalp, but of an oval form in 
the eyebrows. Within the bulb each hair has three fibres or 
roots, uniting at the surface to make one body, or the hair 
itself. 

The thickness of the human hair varies from the two-hundred- 
and-fiftietli to the six-hundredth part of an inch. The silk¬ 
worm web is the five-thousandth part of an inch thick; the 
spider’s web is only the thirty-thousandth part of an inch in 
thickness ; that is, two hundred and fifty human hairs, laid side 




314 


BALDS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


by side, make an incli in breadth; to cover that same space with 
a spider’s web, it would take thirty thousand strands. 

A patient, learned German professor, in taking four heads of 
hair of equal weight, ascertained the number of hairs in each, in 
round numbers: 

Bed hairs. 90,000 

Black.103,000 

Brown. 109,000 

Blonde.140,000 

Agreeing with the received impression, that blonde hair is the 
finest and most silken. The average weight of a woman’s hair is 
fourteen ounces, or six-sevenths of a pound. 

A very good head of hair weighs about two pounds, bought 
originally for half a dollars’ worth of trinkets or gaudy orna¬ 
ments, and sold at wholesale for two dollars ; if it is fine and 
glossy it brings four dollars at the polling. An Illinois lady sold 
her head of blonde hair for eighty-five dollars. A woman’s hair 
averages nearly two feet; sometimes it is a yard long ; there are 
cases when it has been long enough to reach the floor when the 
wearer was standing. To be of good strength and texture it 
ought not to be longer than two feet. 

In the Industrial Exhibition in England specimens of hair 
were on exhibition from the heads of English, Erench, and Italian 
ladies; the English was jet black, and measured seventy-four 
inches. 

BALDNESS 

is sometimes hereditary, at others is occasioned by sickness, 
especially ailments which affect the head; it is of two kinds, cur¬ 
able and incurable. That which follows sickness will usually 
cure itself, if the scalp is kept clean, washed with cold water 
several times a day with plentiful frictions of the bald parts, 
with a coarse cloth first and then with the ends of the fingers and 
palms of the hands. If this does not promote the growth of 
the hair, nothing else will. Millions of dollars are expended 
every year for preparations which are said to promote the growth 
of the hair. What cleanliness and the frictions named do not 
accomplish in that direction, nothing else will. There are .some- 
preparations which may stimulate the scalp to a certain extent, 






THE HAIR . 


315 


but time would have done the same thine; better, so that nothing 

O i o 

is gained in the long run. 

If the scalp is covered with a furze, the hair will grow again. 
If it is shiny, nothing can make it grow, because the roots of the 
hair are gone ; in that case it is as impossible for the hair to grow 
as it would for a flower to grow after it had been pulled up by the 
roots and thrown away, for the hair grows from a root straggling 
in various directions, as the root of a blade of grass spreads out 
at the ground end of it, these roots bringing nourishment to it 
from all quarters; and no amount of manuring can make that 
same root grow again when it is thoroughly dead. 

Keeping the head too much enveloped with a hat causes the 
hair to fall out prematurely, because the hat keeps the scalp too 
warm and prevents the air from .getting at each root. Women 
who w r ear caps all their days do not generally become bald ; the 
cap is thin, and the air gets to the roots of the hair, thus prevent¬ 
ing an overheating of the head. 

But a 

GOOD HEAD OF HAIR, 

as it is termed, is as much a matter of inheritance as a. fine 
beard, or a black eye, or a Koman nose ; nor is it connected with 
• a good or bad constitution, nor a healthy or sickly body, neces¬ 
sarily. Many- consumptives have immense masses of hair, giv¬ 
ing rise in the minds of some to the belief that all the strength 
of the body, all the vitality, goes out through the hair. The best 
answer that can be given to the question, what is 

GOOD FOR THE HAIR? 

is cleanliness of the scalp—such cleanliness as results from fre¬ 
quent bathing the whole scalp in cold water, and plentiful fric¬ 
tions to the bald parts with the ends of the fingers and the palms 
of the hands. When the hair is long, as in women, the best treat¬ 
ment is the plentiful use of the comb and brush; a fine-toothed 
comb should be very carefully used once a week only, pushing it 
along the scalp slowly, in a slanting direction, at an angle of not 
more than thirty degrees, so as not to drive it into the scalp and 
wound it; it should be always in the direction of the growth of 
the hair; then the brush should be used well once or twice every 


316 


HALL'S FAMLLY DOCTOR. 


day. If tlie hair is short, as in the case of children and men, 
it may expedite matters, after having used a fine-toothed comb, to 
brush the hair quickly back and forth and in every direction, so 
as not to miss a pin point of the scalp ; after this brushing is 
over, hold the head forward, in such a manner that the light may 
be thrown on the little specks loosened by the brush, and which 
are detached from the hair by flirting both hands back and forth 
among the hair, as if to shake off all the dust that might be upon 
it; keep this up until nothing can be seen to fall. This is the 
scurf called 

DANDRUFF. 

It is not a disease at any time. Any one can see flakes fall 
from the body in the sunlight, made by rubbing the hands rap¬ 
idly over the skin; these flakes are the scales of the skin, 
which having answered their original purpose, like the scales of 
a fish, or the feathers of a bird, or the first teeth of children, are 
pushed out—are shed, to make room for new ones; but the hair 
prevents them from falling off the scalp ; and in addition, they 
are matted to it by the perspiration, which is constantly escaping 
from the pores of the scalp; hence, dandruff is really a mixture 
of perspiration, skin, scales, and dust, which settle on the head, 
and is no more the result of disease than that which falls from 
a curry-comb when cleaning off a horse; and as a horse looks 
sleek and shiny if he is well groomed every day, so if the scalp 
is taken care of in such a manner as to keep the skin free from 
all unnatural accumulations, and has the free access of the air, 
it will aid very much in keeping the hair glossy and attractive, 
without the help of artificial applications. 

The more hair is oiled the more will it be required ; serving 
to keep an impacted layer of dust and scales and grease all 
over the scalp, so as to prevent a particle of air coming to the 
roots, thus depriving them of their vitality. 

Nothing should be allowed to touch the 

HAIR OF CHILDREN, 

except pure, soft water; and if it were regularly cut every 
month, from three years of age to fourteen, not allowing* during 
all that time a longer growth than two or three inches, keeping 


TUE HAIR. 


317 


tlie scalp clean all the while, as above directed, the growth of the 
hair would be strengthened, its life invigorated, so that girls at 
twenty would have healthy, glossy, abundant hair of their own, 
to be kept, generally,. until middle life, and thus avoid the 
necessity of loading the scalp so unnaturally as is now the cus¬ 
tom, keeping it too warm, obstructing the circulation of the 
blood, and putting such a strain upon it with pins, and by 
various 

CONTORTIONS AND DISTORTIONS, 

greatly injure the quality and impair the life of what little they 
have. To such an extent are these unwise practices carried, and 
the proper treatment of the hair neglected, that a great number 
of our young, unmarried ladies, if divested of all that does not 
belong to them, have hair no longer and no more abundant than 
the opposite sex; and considering that the hair of a woman adds 
more to her native attractiveness than anything else, the teeth 
not excepted, it is greatly to be regretted that more attention is 
not paid to it in childhood than is done; for 

BEAUTIFUL HAIR AND TEETH 

can make any woman attractive, if they are all her own. All 

HAIR-DYES 

are a hypocrisy ; nine out of ten of them are poisonous to the 
extent of endangering life. To want the hair of a different 
color than Nature gives, is proof of a weak mind. No man or 
woman of a lofty nature could ever stoop to such a deception. 
The nitrate of silver is a favorite ingredient for turning the 
hair dark or black; it always makes the hair harsh, injures the 
roots, or causes disagreeable and troublesome nervous affections. 
All these objections apply to the use of these compounds, as well 
to the hair as to the 

BEARD AND MUSTACHE. 

\ . . 

Nearly all hair-dyes contain acetate of lead, a virulent poison 
instantly inflaming the blood, combining with it and by its un- 
liealthful agencies irritating tlie nerves, causing convulsions, and 
in many cases permanent paralysis and inability of motion of 
the parts implicated ; this is the case as a result of the vigorous 


318 


BALDS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


rubbing in the dye on the hair, or in the beard of the face, the 
frictions irritating the skin causing it to absorb the poisonous in¬ 
gredient with greater activity; each manufacturer assures the 
purchaser that there is no such element in his mixture, but the 
only safe plan is to use no dyes whatever, unless the person using 
them knows the nature of each ingredient and mixes them him¬ 
self. 

A young man residing in Chester, Pa., was terribly poisoned 
by a species of hair-dye in common use among barbers every¬ 
where. While coloring his mustache, the barber suffered a 
drop of the dye to fall upon his lower lip, which was slightly 
chapped. In a short time after, the part began to swell, became 
inflamed to an enormous size, and his whole face presented a 
shocking appearance. Convulsion after convulsion followed, and 
for some time his life was in great jeopardy. Within a day or 
two, however, the swelling subsided, and he recovered. 

Ilair-dyes, if used at all, should be made by the direction of 
the person using them, in order to know certainly what their 
composition is ; that made of the nitrate of silver turns the hair 
black ; that made of lead and sulphur, mainly, frequently restores 
the hair to its natural color. 

Mix one ounce of nitrate of silver with six ounces of distilled 
water, or rain or snow water. Wet the hair first with a wash of one 
ounce of sulphuret of potassium dissolved in six ounces of rain¬ 
water ; then paint the hair with the nitrate of silver mixture; but 
if this falls on the skin, it leaves an ugly stain for some time ; yet 
it does turn the hair black in five minutes. But this sulphur prep¬ 
aration has a very disagreeable odor; hence some prefer a mix¬ 
ture without an odor. Add to the above nitrate of silver and 
rose-water mixture, some spirits of hartshorn; stir it in slowly 
with a stick or bone. It soon becomes cloudy ; continue to add 
the hartshorn until • it clears again. But before the hair is 
touched with this, it should be washed with a mixture made bv 
dissolving in eight ounces of rose-water, one dram of pyro- 
gallic acid, enough to dampen the hair; do not allow either of 
the preparations to touch the skin or fall on the clothing. 


HAIR-OILS 


are nearly every one of them made with hog’s lard as the chief 
ingredient; but they are all fatty, and gather dust and dirt and 


THE IIA IE. 


319 


soil the clothing. If, however, in certain cases, the hair is so dry 
or stubborn that it will not lay any way wanted, the least objec¬ 
tionable preparation is made of common castor-oil, two table¬ 
spoonfuls (one ounce) in a pint of good alcohol, as strong as ninety- 
five per cent. o better liair-oil than this can be made; it may 
be scented or colored, but the pure preparation alone is the best. 

Many persons prefer the . 

GLYCERINE HAIR DRESSING, 

' * 

as the glycerine retains its moisture longer than most other 
fluids. Dissolve four ounces of pure glycerine in twelve ounces 
of rain-water. This is the simplest and best preparation. 

One of the most efficient and harmless washes to clean the 
• scalp effectually, is 

POWDERED BORAX. • . 

Put a heaping teaspoonful into a teacupful of warm water; 
stir it up and pour it into a basin with a rounding bottom ; wet 
the whole scalp with warm water, hold the face over the 
basin, keep the eyes shut, dip the ends of the fingers into 
the borax water, and rub it patiently and well into the scalp; 
bear almost as hard as you can; if done properly, the whole 
head will be covered with a white foam as if it were soap-suds, 
and is just as cleansing as soap, not having its harshness ; 
after having rubbed the whole scalp into a lather, wash it 
off with fresh water; renew the water until the hair feels 
natural, as if all the lather w r ere gone ; then wipe dry with a soft 
towel; but do not comb the hair out until it is entirely dry, 
when it will be found to be as fine and clean as the softest silk. 
One such a cleaning every month would never fail to keep the 
collars of the coats of gentlemen free from that very ugly and 
disagreeably suggestive sight of dandruff, for it means filth and 
neglect, worse even than 

THE BLACK RIM 

around the ends of the finger nails. The most healthful method 
of 

WEARING THE HAIR 

so as to promote its growth and beauty, is to let it fall as near 
as possible in its natural direction. Never allow it to be on 


320 


BALDS FAMILY DOCTOR 


any more strain than by its natural weight, to that extent it may 
be parted in the front; but as to ladies, the exact line of parting 
should be changed once a month, even if it be but a very slight 
deviation; the neglect of this occasions that ugly, 

BROAD PATCH OF SKULL 

so often seen, instead of the deep, delicate, rich, and almost im¬ 
perceptible line which is observed where there is a wealth of 
hair. 

It would be well if the hair were worn, until married, falling 
down the back; not plaited, nor twisted; but just as loosely as 
will be allowed, by a silk cord between the ears behind, so as to 
keep it from falling forward, in the form of an oblong hoop. The 
alfnost universal fashion of drawing it upwards from the nape of 
the neck to near the top of the head is as injurious as it is unnat¬ 
ural and absurd. When not allowed to fall down between the 
shoulders, it should be gathered into a loose knot or twist, rest¬ 
ing on the nape of: the neck or very little higher; the one object 
in all these adj nstments being to prevent any one single hair from 
being on any strain beyond that of its own weight, as Nature 
doubtless intended. 

Two or three times every day a lady’s hair should be opened 
with a coarse comb drawn slowly and easily from the scalp to 
the ends of the hair, for. the express purpose of cooling the scalp 
and letting the pure air get to each hair, down to the very root 
of it. 

One of the most beautiful heads of hair known in history was 
that of an educated monk, who seemed to take great delight, for 
. hours at a time every day, in gently combing out his locks to 
the farthest extremity. 

If there should be a time to any one when there was an ade¬ 
quate reason for stimulating the growth of the hair, take one 
ounce each of glycerine, spirit of rosemary, and the aromatic 
spirit of hartshorn, four drams of the tincture of Cantharides, 
and five ounces of rose-water; mix it well, and apply a table¬ 
spoonful night and morning. Or, 

Two drams each of. the balsam of Tolu, tincture of Can¬ 
tharides, and castor-oil, two tablespoonfuls of lard, and half a 
teaspoonful or thirty drops of oil of rosemary; mix well, and use 
it as a pomade every morning. 


THE HAIR 


321 


A more simple and convenient preparation is formed by mixing 
two ounces of spirits of liartsliorn and twelve ounces of pure, 
white liog’s lard; mix it well, and keep it tightly stopped, or the 
hartshorn will evaporate ; a glass stopper will prevent this. 

OILS ARE USELESS 

to make the hair grow, because the hair is made almost entirely 
of nitrogen, of wdiich no oil known contains a single atom; but 
hartshorn contains a considerable amount of nitrogen, and bein^ 
mixed with lard, it is a means of conveying the nitrogen to the 
root of each hair, and keeping it there for absorption as long as 
the lard remains to prevent dryness. Hence oils only act as a 
polish for the hair. A good 

HARTSnORN POMADE 

is prepared thus : one quarter of a pound of almond oil, half an 
ounce of white wax, three ounces of clarified hog’s lard, a quarter 
of an ounce of fluid hartshorn, one dram each of otto of laven¬ 
der, and cloves. Put the oil, wax, and lard into a glass jar, set it 
in boiling water; when all is well melted, let it cool a little, and 
before it becomes hard, stir in the hartshorn and perfumes; put 
into small jars, and keep in a cool, dry place, to be used at night 
only ; use the comb lightly and a soft hair-brush while this is go¬ 
ing on. If persons are resolved to do something for the 

CURE OF BALDNESS, 

take several large handfuls of the common garden box, boil in 
three pints of water, in a closed vessel, for a quarter of an hour 
pour it into an earthen jar, and let it stand until next day. 
Strain this liquid, and add three or four tablespoons of cologne 
water ; wash the whole scalp with this, and do it well every morn¬ 
ing, until the hair grows or does not grow; then stop. 

FALLING HAIR 

is sometimes occasioned by the too free and constant use of oils, 
or ill-health ; in such cases, a remedy is sometimes found in a mix- 
21 


322 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


ture of half a pint each of sherry wine and elder water, tincture 
of arnica half an ounce, of strong spirits of hartshorn one tea- 
spoonful. Apply this to the hair with a sponge every night, 
so as to wet it well. Keep the mixture in a bottle, wash the 
whole scalp twice a week with warm water, and use only the 
softest brushes while the hair is growing. 

Pour boiling water on sage leaves, and let stand near a stove, or 
fire, half a day or longer; wash the whole scalp with this every 
day; in some cases this seems to benefit the hair. 

It is repeated, in order to make a strong and an abiding im¬ 
pression. At the bottom of each hair is a little bulb containing 
what is called the hair pulp, which makes the hair grow and 
which colors it; this is the food, the manna of the hair : but if 
these pulps die or are plucked out, or otherwise destroyed, the roots 
of the hair are gone, leaving the scalp smooth and shiny, and so it 
will remain forever. But if not shiny, if there is a frizzy appear¬ 
ance, the hair has disappeared from accidental causes, and will 
return sooner or later; if any good can be clone in the way of 
hastening its growth, the following may be tried. Take one 
quarter of an ounce each of fluid potash and oil of sweet almonds, 
rose-water two ounces, and fourteen ounces of rain or distilled 
water. Kub a little of this into the skin, with the ends of the fin¬ 
gers, at least five minutes at a time, twice a day. The cheapest 
and best 

HAIR PRESERVER AND RESTORATIVE 

in the world is soft water. "Wash the hair well twice a week 
in pure, soft, rain, snow, or distilled, water, using daily a comb 
with no sharp points, moving it through the hair so gently, slowlv, 
and easily as not to wound the scalp or break any of the hairs, or 
tear them out by the roots. 

If the whole hair and scalp are washed well in pure, soft water 
every day, there is slight liability to any form of disease prevail¬ 
ing at the time, especially in crowded houses, hospitals, ships, 
and soldiers’ barracks; there should be a complete immersion of 
the head in cold water every day, winter or summer. 

HAIR OF CHILDREN 

should never be plaited; it strains them, impedes the healthful 
distribution of nutriment, hence checks the healthy growth. 


THE HAIR. 


323 


The hair of girls should he kept cut short until fourteen, allowing 
to curl prettily over the head; after that it should be twisted 
very lightly into a loose coil; the ends, if tied, should be fastened 
loosely with a soft ribbon. Nothing but pure, soft water should 
ever be applied to the hair of children. 

On looking at a single hair with a good microscope, it will be 
seen to be'made of successive layers or overlapping cells, like the 
scales of a fish, each scale tapering to the thinned, infinitesimal point 
or cone; the edge of each scale serrated like the teeth of a saw. 
Each hair is marked by many transverse and irregularly crooked 
lines. Ilog’s bristles are more like the human hair than any 
other animal’s. 

men’s hair, 

wiien it begins to fall out, may be saved sometimes by keeping it 
cut very short; brush it well when quite dry; this loosens the 
dandruff if the brush is moderately stiff. Then wash with warm 
soap-suds rubbed well into the scalp with the balls of the fingers, 
so that each particular root may be reached. Next, wipe the 
whole hair with a soft towel; then in the same manner rub into 
the scalp and roots of the hair some of the hartshorn washes previ¬ 
ously named, or a little bay rum, brandy, or other spirits. This 
should be done twice a month. The scalp may be brushed well 
two or three times a w T eek to advantage. 

HAIR PHYSIOGNOMY. 

The character of persons is sometimes foreshadowed by the 
color of the hair. 

The bilious temperament, black hair, and dark skin are usually 
found together ; there is strength of character and sensuality. 

Fine hair and dark skin show purity, goodness, and strong 
mind. 

Stiff, straight, and abundant black hair and beard are com- 
bined with a character which is straightforward, unyielding, 
strong, and rather bluff. 

There is exquisite sensibility in fine brown hair, with a strong 
will for what is good and right, if not perverted. 

If the hair is straight, lays flat on the head, there is melan¬ 
choly ; but you may safely rely on that person, be it man or 
woman. 


324 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


If the hair is coarse, black, and sticks up, there is not ranch 
talking, and much that is stubborn, sour, and harsh, unless modi¬ 
fied by grace. 

There is fiery animosity in coarse red hair, with unusual firm¬ 
ness of purpose and strength of character. 

Auburn hair, from the Latin “ alburn us,” or “ brennen,” to 
burn, means reddish, like flame, or giving a golden hue, having 
a yellowish tinge; with a florid face gives purity, intensity, and 
great capacity for enjoyment or suffering. 

Fine, silky, pliable hair, easily dressed, indicates delicacy, sen¬ 
sitiveness, and goodness. 

Hasty, impetuous, rash people have curly, crisp hair ; but if it 
is straight and smooth and even and glossy, there is a warm 
heart, a clear head, and superior talents. 

White hair, as a general rule, indicates a good, easy, lazy fel¬ 
low. 

i 

A red head is furiously passionate; there is sulphur there which 
takes fire in an instant. Black hair has but little sulphur and a 
great deal of carbon or charcoal. 

The hair naturally parting in the middle and falling on either 
side indicates womanly refinement, purity, and delicacy. Thus, 
the old painters represented the poets and artists of their day— 
Homer, Virgil, Shakespeare, Milton, Dante, Raphael, Chaucer, 
and very many others. This represents the feature of Him 
whose Xaine is above every name. When the hair comes out and 
lays on the forehead in rings, it indicates a frank, open, genial 
nature. 

The dark-haired races, the Spaniard, the Malay, the Mexican, 
the Indian, and the Xegro, have physical strength, endurance, 
robustness in body. 

The light-haired races are the thinkers of the world, the poets 
and the artists. 

Dark-brown hair combines the two, and is the most desirable. 

To sum up the whole matter: 

m 

Black haii' is associated with bodily strength. 

White hair with mental vigor. 

Red hair is fiery in temperament, passion, and devotion. 

Wavy hair is pliable, yielding, accommodating. 

Straight, stuck-up hair is stubbornness and fidelity. 

Very smooth, coarse-laying hair is oily gammon. 


THE HAIR. 


325 


CURIOSITIES OF HAIR. 

f 

Wigs were worn three thousand years ago. One was found in 
a good state of preservation in a temple at Thebes, and is now to 
be seen in the British Museum. 

The most perfect method of making wigs -now, is To thread 
each hair and pass the needle through the imitation skin, as near 
the direction that the hair should lay as possible, with every hair 
having its bulb in the artificial wig, and not top end downwards. 

All hair is very thoroughly boiled in water, most effectually 
killing everything that lives in it; hence, all the stories are 
without any foundation which intimate that those who purchase 
false hair are liable to be infected with vermin. The object of 
the boiling is to cleanse the hair most thoroughlv: to make it as 
clean as silk ; otherwise it would rot and become unsalable. 

The hair taken from the head of a diseased or a dead person 
is itself dead, is instantly detected by the purchaser, and the 
mere offer to sell it would subject him to loss of name as an 
honorable dealer; it would not be bought at any price. 

In order to make hair curl and seem natural and remain so, 
the locks are wound around earthen rollers and stewed for two 
hours. This alone would kill any insect. It is then made into 
a literal pie, with the crust, and baked in an oven, as if it had to 
be eaten. 

The hair grows about half an inch in a month, on an average; 
faster in summer than in winter. 

The light hair comes from Germany. The black hair comes 
from Italy and the South of France, collected by a single hair 
merchant himself, who goes from fair to fair, where the peasant 
girls go expressly to sell their long, beautiful tresses; they stand 
together in a kind of semicircle, with the hair all combed out; 
with a single feel of the finger, and a smell; the merchant de¬ 
termines in an instant the value of it to him, and pays for it ac¬ 
cordingly ; each fleece is hastily tied in a knot or hoop, thrown 
in the basket. A common fleece brings in merchandise what 
cost the dealer ten or fifteen cents, but which there,is worth per¬ 
haps half a dollar. But now and then a very superior article has 
been known to bring twenty-five dollars an ounce foi; some spec¬ 
ial purpose or person, who wanted it of a particular tint and 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


.32G 

glossiness and length; this would be equal to some two hundred 
dollars for a fleece. 

Railways break up hair fairs, because they carry with them 
progress, improvement, cultivation, refinement, and self-apprecia¬ 
tion. It is only among the most ignorant, petty, and debased 
communities, that the hair can be purchased. Brittany and Nor¬ 
mandy, “ my Normandy,” furnish the largest supplies, nearly 
twenty thousand pounds apiece every year. Belgium sends six¬ 
teen thousand pounds of hair to market every year. 

Three heads yield a pound of hair on an average in Italy; in 
Belgium it requires six. 

The coarsest hair comes from Auvergne, the finest from Bel¬ 
gium, the blackest and longest from Italy. The most beautiful 
hair in the world and the prettiest is from Bretagne or Brittany, 
a French province. 

GRAY HAIRS 

sometimes come prematurely by inheritance, some great 
trouble, or the large use of water which has lime in it; this is 
easily determined by taking half a glass of the water blowing 
into it through a rye straw, or any other tube ; in proportion as 
it is limey it turns to a milky white, by the carbonic‘acid of the 
breath uniting with the lime, and making it solid. Lime water 
also makes the hair harsh and dry and brittle ; these things can 
be obviated, remedied, or prevented by using only rain or dis¬ 
tilled water, either for drinking purposes or in tea and coffee. 
If lime is the cause, the color may be restored sometimes by wash¬ 
ing the hair well every morning, and by mixing half a pint of 
bay rum, half a pint of the best brandy, and one pint and a half 
of the best sweet oil; this mixture must be kept in a bottle w T ell 
stopped, and must be thoroughly shaken before using. A patient 
perseverance in the use of this preparation frequently gives a 
very gratifying result. There is a 

TURKISH IIAIR-DYE 

of considerable value. Take finely pulverized galls, make into 
a little paste, with sweet oil, roast this in an iron pan until no 
vapor rises; add water to the residue, until another paste is 
formed; heat this also until it is dry; make this into a powder 


TEE RATE. 


327 


and keep it dry in a bottle, well stopped; when it is wanted to 
be used, take a little of it between the thumb and fingers, and 
rub the hair or head with it; or it may be put into the palm 
of the hand and rubbed well into the hair every day once or 
twice; in a few days the hair becomes of a glossy black, is 
soft and pliant, and retains its color for a considerable time. 
When the hair becomes suddenly gray, it is most generally from 
great mental shocks we all have felt the effect of it, to a greater 
or less extent, about the heart, hence the instinctive carrying the 
hand to the left side of the breast; and it is the office of the 
heart to throw the blood to the most distant parts of the body; 
but this it fails to do, to a proper extent; hence the hair suffers 
for want of its proper amount and quality of blood, hence it is 
clear that the sudden change of the color of the hair is owing to 
the unnatural action of the heart. A lady who had a remarka¬ 
ble quantity of jet-black hair was called to endure a very great 
change for the worse in her pecuniary circumstances; on the 
very next morning her hair was of a lily white. On the jour¬ 
ney from Warennes to Paris, the hair of Marie Antoinette 
turned white. 

As the Ducliesse of Luxemburgh was escaping during the 
French Revolution, she was caught, put in prison, and the next 
morning her hair was white. 

It is related that an attempt was made to test the courage of 
a Spanish officer who had a great reputation for bravery. lie 
was waked up at midnight out of a deep sleep, and informed 
that by order of the Viceroy he was to be executed in fifteen 
minutes. lie said he was prepared to die, but was innocent of 
the charge ; when told that it was a joke, he laid his hand upon 
his heart, instinctively, as if there was something there which 
influenced his whole nature and was irrepressible, and only said, 
“ You have done me an evil service.” In the morning his hair 
was as white as snow. 

The grief and mortification in consequence of the disasters 
at Magenta and Malegnano turned the hair of Generals Hum 

o o 

and Benedek perfectly white in a few days. 

Dr. D. Parry, Staff Surgeon at Aldershott, England, writes 
that on the 19th of February, 1858, a sepoy of the Bengal army 
was taken prisoner; I sa*w him stripped naked and surrounded 
by soldiers • he trembled violently ; despair and horror most in- 


328 


HALLS FAMILY D'OOTOR. 


tense were depicted on liis countenance; lie seemed almost stu¬ 
pefied with fear, and under my observation liis hair, from being 
a glossy jet black, became gray on every portion of. his head 
within half an hour; the sergeant, whose prisoner he was, ex¬ 
claimed, “ He is turning gray.” It is supposed that under the 
influence of fear or any great mental shock, the fluids of the hair 
retire to the interior, as under the same circumstances the blood 
of the surface retires to the interior of the body, to the heart, 
and its place in the hair is supplied with air bubbles which are 
colorless, and which remain there, becoming a permanency. 

DRESSING- THE HAIR 

indicates the character of the wearer, especially in ladies, for 
it gives infinite scope for cultivating and exercising the taste; it 
affords a wide field for studying the adaptations of things. There 
is as much in the dressing of the hair as in the dress of the body; 
and few there are who understand either, who have by instinct 
the valuable secret of arranging all, so that the whole person 
shall be improved, “ set off ” to the best advantage. 

A great' bunch of hair on either side of a little, thin face, 
makes that face a caricature, makes it thinner and more tiny 
than before ; not much better would it be for a dumpy person to 
wear enormous quantities of hair on the back of the head,; and 
yet these are the very persons who affect the largest possible 
waterfalls, making them dumpier, more dwarfish than before. 

A lady with a low forehead may brush her hair backward from 
the face, but that is no reason why another with a very high and 
broad forehead should do the same thing. 

Hound and broad faces are set off with drooping curls; but 
they make a long and flat cheek look more gaunt and skinny. 

By studying the fitness of things, a curl has many a time 
caught a husband as whiskers have won a wife, and so it will 
be while the world stands. 

A SINGLE HAIR 

once held a sword; and frail though it is, it has power over mind 
and memory more enduring than its own ability to resist physi¬ 
cal decay, for long after the body and its clothing have wasted 
away to their original dust, the hair vie^ with the bones in a pro¬ 
tracted existence; the coffin and the solid plate are gone, but the 



TUB VOICE. 


320 


hair is still there, the solitary remnant of one who lived an age 
ago. 

A LOCK OF HAIR. 

How carefully treasured! What a flood of loving memories 
crowd around the heart as we gaze upon it; how it carries us 
back to the loved and lost, a part of whom it once was, the only 
thing unchanged that they left on earth ; for a moment it seems 
as if the departed were almost present; for a brief instant we 
can almost look into the eye or hear the voice ; the expression of 
the countenance, the smile on the lip—-how they all flit across 
memory’s waste, and tell of happier days departed, fully author¬ 
izing the apostrophe of the poet: 


“ How often has this lovely curl 
Been bound with flowers and decked with pearl; 

How oft round snowy fingers twined, 

How often fluttered in the wind ! 

Aye, ’tis a thing to love and bless, 

This little sweetly shining tress. 

The one by whom this gem was given 
Seems to my heart a thing of heaven. 

An. angel dream—a gentle dove 
Sent forth from out the ark of love ; 

A vision come from Paradise 
To bless and gladden mortal eyes.” 

, - -- 

THE VOICE. 

Sound is a series of air-waves, extending and widening as in 
the water when a pebble is thrown into it. Musical sounds travel 
farther than others by one half. A strong, healthy man can 
“ fill ” a room measuring seventy-five feet each way ; if he sings, 
he can fill a room half as large again. 

There may be ahum of voices in a room, and a fife playing at 
the same time ; you may not be able to hear the fife in the room, 
the hum drowns it; this hum will travel a hundred yards per¬ 
haps ; but far beyond that you can hear the fife with great 
distinctness. At the same time, as between speaking in a 
monotonous or sing-song tone, and a distinct enunciation with an 
appreciable interval between each word and syllable, there can 




330 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


i 

be no comparison as to the greater ease in understanding the lat¬ 
ter, although the volume of sound in the former is much greater. 
Many a public speaker is pleasurably understood with much less 
power expended in vocalization, while another, with stentorian 
lungs, fails to convey his ideas to the hearer, the difference being 
in the manner of enunciation. 

Monotonous speakers are heard painfully, because the sound¬ 
ing of one word runs into another, and the attention is kept on 
the stretch all the time to catch the intervals, which it is neces¬ 
sary to do in order to comprehend the idea. A certain method 
of avoiding this great and unfortunate mistake is for the speaker 
himself so to pronounce each word that his own ear can easily 
measure a distinct interval, not only between each word, but be¬ 
tween every syllable. If a public speaker will pay the proper 
attention, he will discover that there exists a certain instinct 
within him, which will enable him to feel whether his voice fills 
the room and reaches the whole audience. 

A blind man was once sent to an office to deliver a message. 
On returning, he reported that on opening the door he found no 
person there. On being asked how he knew it, he replied that 
the rebound of the voice, its force and character, were different 
in an empty room and one more or less full. There is a ring in 
an empty room; if full, the voice falls more like a thug or 
nmfffed sound. 

A man may cast a pebble fifty yards, and fifty other men of 
equal strength and skill could each cast it fifty yards; but no one 
of the fifty can throw that pebble farther than fifty yards. So 
five hundred voices, although very loud within the sphere of one 
voice, will not be heard farther than one voice of the five hun¬ 
dred. Thus a man may be singing in a crowd where the general 
hum prevents him hearing himself, yet he will be heard at a dis¬ 
tance far beyond that which the hum reaches, because a musical 
note travels farther than one of prose. 

To speak without an effort of mind or voice or person, the 
whole consciousness must be absorbed in the subject itself. 
Then only can a man speak with Nature’s eloquence. lie must 
for the instant feel that his subject is overwhelmingly real, over¬ 
whelmingly important; hence it is that all the “ arts ” of oratory, 
such as studied gestures, attitudes, attention to the modes of 
breathing, and efforts to speak so as not to exhaust the lungs 


PIES , PASTRIES, AND PUDDINGS. 


331 


fully, are so much wastes of physical power, as well as moral 
force, because just that much attention is taken from the subject, 
and deprives it of its life. The oratory of the heart, which is 
effective the world over, whether in assemblies civilized or sav¬ 
age, cultivated or all untutored, is that which comes from a man 
whose consciousness makes him feel that material and immortal 
destinies hang upon his utterances. 




CLEAN FEET. 

The majority of people pay little attention to the cleanliness 
of the feet, and yet any square inch of the sole of the foot de¬ 
mands cleanliness, perfect cleanliness, more than any square foot 
of surface of the body, as far as health is concerned, because the 
“ pores ” are much larger there than anywhere else; so large 
indeed that they may be called “ sluices ” for carrying away the 
impurities of the system. Hence the bottom of the feet should 
be well washed and well rubbed .every day. 

-^-- 


PIES, PASTRIES, AND PUDDINGS 

are as healthful and more nutritious than pork steaks, roast pig, 
or boiled ham ; and yet there will not be perhaps two readers in 
ten who will assent to the statement. But when Old Christ¬ 
mas is coming, and the tables of the country will be loaded 
with this “ forbidden fruit, ” it would be a great misfortune 
to let so many good things be neglected; but there is no danger 
of that, which proves that the reader practically ^admits the 
truth of the “ monstrous statement ” of the opening sentence, 
so contrary to preconceived opinion, that “pies, pastries, and 
puddings are as healthful and more nutritious than broiled beef¬ 
steaks, roast turkey, or boiled ham.” Nine readers in ten will 
regard this statement with almost contemptuous surprise. But 
as the year is closing in, when these things will abound in every 
household, let us look into the thing, with a view to eat, drink, 
and be merry during the grand holiday time. 






BALDS FAMILY DOCTOR 


Every man of science knows that there is twice as much 
nourishment, meaning thereby power to give warmth^ and 
strength, in a pound of sponge-cake, gingerbread, or plum¬ 
pudding, than in a pound of roast beef, for more than half the 
beef is water. To be specific, two-thirds of the best roast beef 
is water, and one-third nutriment at most, while puddings and 
“ sweet cakes ” of every description contain more than two-thirds 
nutriment, and have less than one-third water ; hence a man will 
live longer on five pounds of sweet cake, than on five pounds of 
roast beef. Sweet cakes, pound-cakes, and the like are bread 
sweetened, with trifling additions, as to weight, of eggs and 
butter; but the flour alone out of which the cake is made, which 
when baked is called “ bread,” has all the. elements of nutrition, 
and man can live on bread alone. But neither the eggs, nor the 
sugar, nor the butter, nor the milk, which added to the flour 
complete the ingredients of pound-cakes, are unhealthful nor 
innutritions; hence it is difficult to conclude that if each of half 
a dozen of ingredients which make up an article of food are 
healthful, all. combined are unhealthful, especially as, if eaten 
singly at one meal, they would all be mixed together in the 
stomach, where it will be found that in the course of two or 
three hours after an ordinary meal, the contents of the stomach, 
if the owner of it is in vigorous, health, are to all appearance 
identical in color, consistency, and general appearance. The same 
general principles hold good as to pies and puddings. A pie 
is stewed fruit added to a little bread and butter; the butter be¬ 
ing mixed with the flour before baking, making pastry, cannot by 
the mixture make the combination unhealthy ; it will scarcely be 
asserted that bread and butter outside of the stomach can become 
unhealthy when put inside well mixed, as they are in chewing. 
The same things hold good as to the prince of puddings— 

• 

“ PLUM-PUDDINGS.” 

The plums, the flour, the butter, and the several other ingre¬ 
dients are healthful to eat individually; and why not collect¬ 
ively is difficult to comprehend. 

The universal error as to the unhealthful nature of pies, pud¬ 
dings, and pastries, taking it for granted that they are well made 
and properly cooked, has arisen from the simple fact that being 


PIES, PASTRIES ., AND PUDDINGS. 


333 


eaten after we have made a full meal of other things, the stomach 
is oppressed by them, and, if the process is repeated, becomes 
eventually dyspeptic; that is, has not power to work up the 
food, because it has been “worked to death ” already. It would 
be quite as philosophical to say that if a man has become very 
tired by ploughing all day, and then by chopping wood he had 
“ worked himself out,” it was very unhealthy to chop wood. 

It has frequently occurred to observant persons that having 
made a good meal, the unexpected appearance of a toothsome 
pie, or splendid pudding, or irresistible cake, instantaneously and 
miraculously changed their sentiments. A moment before they 
thought, felt, and believed that they had eaten enough ; and now 
they believe no such thing, and forthwith eat as much in bulk as 
they had already taken, with the result very often that they are 

“as sick as death.” 

Whether death is ever sick or not, is another question; but 
the meaning is, they feel as if they were almost sick enough to 
die. The legitimate conclusion is that pies, pastries, and pud¬ 
dings are as healthful as roast beef or boiled tongue, if prop¬ 
erly prepared, and eaten judiciously as to time, quantity, and 
quality. There are multitudes of dyspeptic persons in the com¬ 
mon walks of life and on our farms who very rarely can afford 
to indulge in pies, pastries, and puddings, showing that they 
have become dyspeptic by eating bread and meat and vegetables 
at improper times, in improper quantities, or after improper 
preparation. 

The healthy method of taking pies, pastries, puddings, and 
other forms of dessert is, 

First. As a luncheon, take a moderate amount, and nothing 
else. 

Second. Leave room for them at dinner-time, by eating half 
as much dinner as you would have done had you known there 
was to be no dessert. 

Third.. Take your dessert at the beginning of dinner; and if 
any man eats too much dinner after that, he will be the greatest 

curiosity in existence. 

«/ 


334 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


THERMOMETERS AND BAROMETERS. 

There ouglit to be a barometer in every family, and a ther¬ 
mometer in every chamber, that every child may be taught their 
uses, which, if properly explained, and with sufficient clearness, 
will become a fund of amusement, and interesting and intelli¬ 
gent observation for a lifetime. 

The barometer measures the heaviness of the atmosphere ; the 
heavier it is the farther down does it press the mercury; the 
heavier it is the fuller the air is of water, and the sooner will it 
rain. When there is but little water in the air, it is very light; 
each breath we draw has more oxvgen in it, and that makes ns 
lively, and cheerful, and light-hearted, without our knowing the 
cause. On the other hand, if the air is heavy with w^ater or 
moisture, each breathful of it has that much less oxygen in it, the 
blood is that much less purified, and we afe lifeless, and restless, 
and depressed. 

It is a comfortable thing to get up in the morning when we 
have a pleasant visit or excursion in contemplation, to know that 
it will .not rain that day ; and many a time it will save a best 
dress or best bonnet to be told by the silent friend that it will 
certainly rain before night. But to be thus informed, the height 
of the mercury should be marked at night, and there is a con¬ 
venient arrangement for that purpose; if, on rising in the 
morning, the mercury has fallen an inch, it wull certainly 
be followed by rain or storm before night; if, on the other hand, 
it has risen largely, it will clear away in a few hours, although it 
is raining at the instant. 

The uses of the thermometer are to indicate the temperature 
of our chambers, and to warn us beforehand of the state of the 
out-door air, that we may adapt our clothing to that day’s cli¬ 
mate. 

The Duke of Wellington’s nose was his thermometer, and it 
was about the longest and biggest we ever saw; he never failed 
to hoist the window and put his head outside the first thing every 
morning, “ sniff ” the air, then give his servant directions what 
clothing to lay out for him that day. Many a life has been lost 
by not being dressed warm enough on going out for the day, in 


COAL FIRES. 


335 


consequence of a great change in the weather during the night; 
for it requires a day or two for the cold “ to get into the house.” 
On the other hand, if it suddenly changes to a much greater 
warmth during the night, thirty or forty degrees warmer, and we 
go out with the clothing of the previous day, we are oppressed, 
and change to a lighter dress, and a bad cold is taken. . It is 
never safe to change to a lighter dress, after having dressed in 
the morning; if we want to “ leave off ” clothing, let that be at 
the first dressing, and at no other time. This observance alone 
will prevent much sickness during a lifetime. 

In summer time, if we sit in a room of sixty-eight degrees, 
the system will be certainly and quickly chilled; but in mid¬ 
winter a room of sixty-eiglit degrees will feel almost “ suffocat¬ 
ing,” especially if entered soon after a brisk, out-door walk. Or¬ 
dinarily a church feels comfortably warm in winter, if the ther¬ 
mometer stands at sixty-five in the centre of the building, and 
about five feet from the floor. 

-— t&z -• 


COAL FIRES. 

Serious inconvenience to health is sometimes occasioned by 
tardiness in kindling a coal fire; passengers in railroad cars 
have often undergone incalculable sufferings from this cause. 

Before coal kindles it must be heated through and through, 
made hot enough to blister the fingers in an instant, although 
still black. It is easy to see that a small bit of coal will get thus 
heated sooner than a larger one ; hence the smaller the coal, the 
sooner will it ignite. 

Coal must be kindled with wood. This wood will give out a 
certain amount of heat, and no more; and as a given amount of 
heat is necessary to kindle the coal, the more wood, and the less 
coal, and the smaller the pieces, the sooner and more certainly 
will the fire be lighted. 

In the face of these facts, persons are frequently seen in rail- 
cars, when the fire in the stove is low, to put on a large amount 
of coal, the result being that the more coal put on, the more the 
fire will not burn, because the small amount of heat is distributed 
over a large amount of cdal, all of which is heated some, but 




336 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


none of it heated enough for ignition. The more a coal fire is 
stirred, if a little low, the more certain it is to go ont. 

The best way to replenish a coal fire is to put on a small 
amount of coal while it is burning well; and after this is 
thoroughly kindled,.and has been red for a short time, add a 
little more coal. In this way a fire maybe kept burning a 
whole day in a grate without using the poker once; and good 
housekeepers know that every time a poker is used, the ashes fly 
in every direction, and valuable time is expended, in brushing 
them up. If a poker must be used, the time to do it is when 
fresh coal has been thoroughly kindled, for then there is no 
danger of its going out. 

If a coal fire is burning too much, either cover it with some of 
the ashes which have fallen through the grate; this makes the 
mass more compact, and diminishes the draught; or if it is desir¬ 
able to put the fire out altogether, as when going to bed, press 
the coal down from the top with a shovel or blunt-edged poker. 

It has been the custom to use the largest-sized coal for the 
furnace; this requires a great waste of wood in kindling, besides 
much time is lost in firing up in the morning, the very time 
when most heat is wanted, and wanted quickly. It will take 
less coal, and give incomparably more comfort, to feed a furnace 
with coal, the largest piece of which is not larger than a hen’s 
egg, only taking care to put on a little coal every hour. Ob¬ 
servation and close-calculating economy has shown this to all 
our river boats, tugs, and steamers. 

As a well-wanned house and a brightly burning fire in the 
grate add greatly to the comfort, and life, and enjoy ability of 
winter calls, these items about coal fires are seasonable. The 
most beautiful, the cheeriest, and the most healthful open fire 
known is that which is furnished by Dixon’s low-dow T n grates. 


- tCr. - - 

RICE. 

Boiled rice is among the most nutritious of all foods, and is 
the most easily digested, and, being cheap in all countries, it is 
the principal food of more than half of the human family, and 
is especially suitable for cold weathqr; for one pound of it gives 




COMPLAINING. 


as much warmth to the .body as four pounds of roast beef, and it 
is digested in about one-fourtli the time, that is, in one hour; at 
the same time it does not give one quarter the power to work as 
roast beef. It is more universally used among the Chinese than 
any other nation, and is on that account, perhaps, prepared most 
philosophically; they boil it thus: “ take a clean stew-pan with 
a close-fitting top, then take a clean piece of white muslin, large 
enough to cover over the top of the pan, and hang down inside 
nearly to but not in contact with the bottom. Into the sack so 
formed place the rice, pour over two cupfuls of water, and put 
on the top of the stew-pan, so as to hold up the muslin bag 
inside, and fit. tight all around. Place the pan over a slow fire, 
and the steam generated from the water will cook the rice. 
Each grain, it is stated, will come out of the boiler as dry and 
as distinct as if just taken from the hull. More water may be 
poured into the pan, if necessary, but only sufficient to keep up 
the steam till the rice is cooked. The pan must not be heated 
so hot as to cause the steam to blow off the lid.” 

It ought to be extensively known that ordinary boiled rice, 
eaten with boiled milk, is one of the best remedies known for 
any form of loose bowels. Its efficacy is increased if it is 
browned like coffee, and then boiled and eaten at intervals of 
four hours, taking no other food or liquid whatever; its curative 
virtue is intensified if no milk is taken with it, and the patient 
will keep quiet in a warm bed; then it becomes an almost in¬ 
fallible remedy. 


‘^3 


COMPLAINING. 

While those who are never well should have our warmest 
sympathies, very different is it with that innumerable host of 
chronic growlers who are pouring into our afflicted ears the in¬ 
terminable tale of their sorrows, the whole of which are imagi¬ 
nary, are from mere habit, or are from their own making. 

Some persons, after having been sick a short time, are very li¬ 
able to fall into the habit of complaining, which becomes so in¬ 
veterate that they unconsciously begin to detail symptoms which 

long before had ceased to have an existence. 

22 




HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


OOQ 

ooO 

For that unfortunate class who are forever looking out foi 
symptoms, and seem to feel a real gratification to have something 
to growl about, and will shake their heads into a headache, or 
poke their sides in search of a “ hurt ” if they have none, there 
is no hope; they are clean gone daft. But let the reader take a 
hint on the subject; except in your own family, no one cares a 
straw about your complaints, and, for the sake of getting rid of 
your rigmarole in the shortest time possible, will thrust a piece of 
advice under your nose which cured somebody a great deal worse 
than you are, and of course it will cure you; and, having fixed 
you off, they are then for business. 

If you have nothing better than a complaint to make of your¬ 
self, hadn’t you better go on the principle, “ If you haven’t any¬ 
thing good to say, say nothing”? 

What good can it do for you'to be talking about your imper¬ 
fections ? If yon are speaking to a real friend, it only saddens 
him to think that you are suffering, and the more so as he is help¬ 
less to aid you. There is some sense in a man’s speaking of his 
actual virtues, or what he has done for the good of others; but 
to be telling Tom, Dick, and Harry, the instant you lay your eyes 
on them, that you have a sore toe, or a boil on your body, or the 
“ rlieumatiz ” in your joints, or a hole in the spine of your back, 
man alive, be ashamed of yourself, and from this day forth, if a 
friend, asks you “Flow do you do ?” say, “ Pretty well, I thank 
you,” and then talk about something else. In this way you will 
at least get rid of trying a thousand and one things which have 
cured a man “ no worse than you,” or “ a great deal better than 
you,” don’t know which. 


-1<^—- 

TOOTH-PICKS. 

Some one has said, “ one tooth-pick is worth a bushel of tooth¬ 
brushes.” The people must get into the habit of weighing every 
practical statement in reference to the health and well-being of 
our bodies, or they will be led by specious statements, or striking 
comparisons, or popular names, to many hurtful habits, practices, 
and observances. Every dentist knows that the more a tooth-pick 
is used, the more'the yielding gum is pressed upward; and the 




THE NEW ANODYNE. 


339 


larger tlie space becomes between the teeth next the gum, the 
larger will be the pieces of food that will lodge there, and the 
greater the necessity of the use of the tooth-pick for the remain 
der of life, and to some extent the solid tooth itself may weai 
away. 

If the tooth is hollow, it ought to be extracted or filled with 
gold at the very earliest moment possible, so as to prevent decay 
and a noisome breath. 

To be under the necessity of spending five or ten or more 
minutes after each meal in picking the teeth is a great and use¬ 
less waste of time, and is .essentially a loafing and indecent prac¬ 
tice, unless done in one’s own private room. On the other hand, 
the intelligent dentist knows that the judicious use of a •tooth¬ 
brush immediately after each meal, twisting it up and down side- 

• « 

ways, so that each bristle becomes a soft tooth-pick, and gently 
dislodges particles of food, while at the same time it hardens the 
gum, makes it more firm, causes it to grow more fully into any 
crevices, and fills them up more perfectly. Whether by pick or 
brush the same important end is sought, to keep the teeth clean, 
because it is the only means'of preserving them, and the want of 
it the certain means of their speedy destruction in almost every 
case. 

■ - ^- 


TIIE NEW ANODYNE. 

The medical world is delighted with the discovery of a new. 
medicine, and the newspapers abound with advertisements, set¬ 
ting forth the peculiar advantages of each preparation, every man- 
claiming that his own is the best. It is called 

Cj 

CHLORAL HYDRATE. 

The object of taking this medicine is to promote sleep, and 
thus far, when administered pure and in a proper manner, it has . 
advantages above all others known hitherto, whether in the form 
of Opium, Morphine, Laudanum, or Paregoric. 

This Chloral Hydrate is in white crystals; almost every liquid 
dissolves it; hence it is largely advertised in the shape of syrups, 
anodynes, and various fluid mixtures. When it is dissolved in 




340 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR 

any fluid, it begins to lose its peculiar power within an lionr; 
hence it should be mixed and used on the spot. Therefore, if 
employed at all, each person should purchase it in its white crys¬ 
tal form direct from, the apothecary, and mix it himself; then 
only can he get all its advantages, and know what and how much 
he is taking; all preparations of Chloral Hydrate other than in 
white crystal form are gross impositions on the public. 

There can be no doubt of its advantageous use under the 
physician’s care for a few times; but any one who takes it on 
his own responsibility, especially if used night after night for 
promoting sleep, acts most unwisely, for it lias not been in use 
long enough to allow proper observations to be made as to its 
safety. There are several medicines which can be taken a few 
times without any apparent ill result; but if their employment 
is continued, the most ineradicable and deathly consequences 
follow. A man may drink water brought into the house by a 
faulty lead pipe, and notice no inconvenience ; he may repeat 
that drinking for days and weeks, and he apparently as well as 
ever; but continuing to use it for months, the most incurable 
poisoning follows, and in multitudes of cases fatal, after months 
and years of torment. 

All anodynes act more or less .directly on the brain, the most 
delicate and dangerous part of the whole body to be tampered 
with, and Chloral may have its far-reaching tendencies there to 
impair and to destroy. Sleep, healthful, delicious, and invigorat¬ 
ing, comes only from the exhaustion to a certain point of that 
store of strength with which we leave our chambers in the morn¬ 
ing, which “ store of strength ” is the result of rest to body and 
brain. This store of strength comes up, accumulates as naturally 
as the water accumulates in a vrell which has been left almost- 
dry from excessive use; the water rises higher and higher, sim¬ 
ply from the well being let alone. So bodily strength rises up, 
as it were, during a state of repose,'while asleep at night, and 
does this more favorably if left alone to its own natural actions. 
The best and only healthful anodyne in the world, the most un¬ 
objectionable sleep-producer, is sturdy, honest out-door labor ; 
for the Bible has said it: “ The sleep of a laboring man is 
sweet.” 


WINTER SHOES. 


341 


WINTER SHOES. 

In the sloshy weather of winter, when the roads and streets 
are covered with mud or half-melted snow, India-rubber shoes 
are a perfect protection; but to wear them longer than an hour 
or two, especially if the person is not in continuous exercise, has 
the certain effect to make the feet cold and clammy, thus prepar¬ 
ing the system for colds, croups, and inflammation of the lungs. 

Workmen and business men must be on their feet more or less 
all day; and to have the feet dry and warm is essential to health 
and comfort, and even to life itself. 

The soles of shoes can be made impervious to dampness if they 
alone are soaked for twenty-four hours in kerosene oil, and are 
then allowed to dry thoroughly. Let the sole be deep enough in 
the oil to cover the top of it, so that the oil may sink in among 
the stitches, and fill in the seams of the sole and upper leather ; 
then the upper leather may be polished with blacking, but- it 
could not be made to shine as well if soaked in oil, nor is it do- 
sirable to have the upper leather impervious, for then it would 
be no better than India rubber. 

All persons should have cork soles in tlieir shoes, the cork being 
covered on the side next the foot with Canton flannel; but it 
would be well to take them out every night, and place them 
where they will be well aired and dried. Another benefit of 
cork soles is, they save about ninety per cent, of darning. Nine 
shoemakers out of ten fail to rasp off the pegs and nails on the 
inside of the sole, the result being in many cases that holes are 
worn in the stockings in twenty-four hours after their first wear¬ 
ing. But -even if the wooden pegs are ever so well rasped, or 
the iron pegs clinched, still wood and iron are harder than 
leather, have no yield, and wear holes in the best stockings in a 
short time 5 and as a large portion of the time of our industri¬ 
ous wives at the close of the week, especially on Saturday nights, 
is spent in darning stockings, these suggestions are worth consid¬ 
eration. •. 


342 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


CHILL AND FEVER 

is the all-pervading blight within fifty miles of New York City, 
causing multitudes who go to the country for health to return in 
the fall of the year saturated with disease, which the slightest in¬ 
discretion or exposure develops into some troublesome fever or 
mysterious form of sickness. Chill and fever, intermittents, and 
the old-fashioned name of 

FEVER AND AGUE, 

are one and the same disease, arising from the one cause of low, 
damp lands or stagnant water, whether in the shape of mill¬ 
ponds, lakes, sluggish streams, or pools of water here and there 
in the beds of half-dried creeks and rivulets. Many neighbor¬ 
hoods are the hot-beds of disease in summer, because the ponds 
are not filled up or the lowlands drained. If standing water is 
drained in warm weather, it exaggerates the sickness a thousand¬ 
fold, because the slimy bottom is exposed to the hot sun, and the 
deadly miasm is generated in incredible quantities and of con¬ 
centrated virulence. 

The time for draining ponds or other forms of stagnant water 
is midwinter. Then fill up or plough and cultivate in early 
spring, keeping all the drains free. To show what intelligence 
and public spirit will do through a single individual, it may be 
stated that a gentleman living near New York, observing that 
there was a great deal of sickness near his country place every 
autumn, quietly purchased all the ponds in his neighborhood, to 
the great astonishment and wonderment of everybody. . Tie sub¬ 
sequently drained them, and, when the bottoms were dry, 
ploughed them deeply, thoroughly, and well; then sowed his 
seed. The fall gave a crop which surprised “ everybody; ” such 
a yield had never been heard of in all that section of country ; 
and last September, when Staten Island, New Haven, Pough¬ 
keepsie, and other places were overrun with chill and fever to an 
unremembered extent, the village' of West Farms is not known 
to have had a single case. In many parts of our country intelli¬ 
gent enterprise can prevent disease, produce unheard-of crops, 


/ 


TOMATOES AS FOOD . 343 

and add one hundred per cent, to the value of adjoining lands. 
Fever and ague is said to be cured by dissolving a heaping tea¬ 
spoon of common salt in half a glass of water, and drinking it on 
rising, three mornings in succession. It would not be wise to 
call this ridiculous, until thoroughly tried. A11 old negro once 
said that he knew a tree, the bark of which would cure chill and 
fever; the people tried it, and, finding that it never failed in 
that country, gave the man a large amount of money to show 
the tree ; from this bark quinine is now made. 

If common table salt can cure fever and ague, it may be added 
to the increasing list of “Food Cures,” for salt is on all our. 
tables. Still it would be better to have no fever and ague, by 
draining all ponds within five miles of the locality where it pre¬ 
vails, in the winter; then either fill them up or plough the 
bottoms and cultivate them, thus obtaining a large amount of 
healthful food from spots which caused disease and death to make 
their ravages through whole neighborhoods. 


TOMATOES AS FOOD. 

It is known that the essence of the tomato made into a pill 
acts upon the liver, and to that extent must counteract bilious¬ 
ness and all forms of fever. . 

The free use of figs is known to multitudes to obviate consti¬ 
pation in a great many cases; every intelligent druggist knows 
that a tablespoon of white mustard-seed, swallowed without 
chewing, is useful in the same direction, has been used for that 
purpose for a century, and for that reason is kept in every good 
drug-store for sale. The seeds pass from the body unchanged, 
but are supposed “ to act ” on the bowels mechanically. The 
seeds of the delightful tomato act in the same manner; hence 
the fruit, while it is palatable to the taste, and nutritious to the 
body, has a health-promoting effect on the liver and the whole 
digestive system. 




*344 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR 


MAKING COFFEE. 

Make a bag of felt or heavy woollen flannel long enough to 
reach from the top to the bottom of the coffee-pot,, with a wire 
attached to keep the bag upright; put the fresh-ground coffee in 
the bag, pour on boiling water, and it is at once fit for use; the 
water takes the strength out of the coffee and passes through 
the flannel clear with all its aroma. 

Americans, persist in boiling the coffee, thus driving away its 
most delicious quality. 

The French put the ground coffee in a tin cup with perforated 
bottoms, pour on boiling water, and then give it time to drain 
through; but if the liquid is then boiled, its most essential and 
distinctive quality is evaporated and lost, although not to as 
great an extent as in the most unphilosophical American method. 

- Z&'w - 

HEARTY SUPPERS. 

* 

It requires about five hours for the stomach to work up an 
ordinary meal and pass it out of itself, when it falls into a state 
of repose. Hence, if a man eats three times a day, his stomach 
must work fifteen hours out of the twenty-four. But the multi¬ 
tude of mechanics who are wildly clamorous for only “ eight 
hours a day,” are the very ones who, while they are angered at 
being required by others to work more than eight hours a day, 
do not hesitate to impose on their stomachs fifteen hours’ work; 
nearly double. After a night’s sleep, we wake up with a certain 
amount of bodily vigor, which is faithfully portioned out to 
every muscle of the system, and every set of muscles, each its 
rightful share; the stomach among others. When the external 
body gets weary after a long day’s work, the stomach bears its 
share of the fatigue; but if when the.body is weary with the 
day’s toil, we put it to bed, giving the stomach meanwhile a five 
hours’ task, which must be performed, we impose upon the very 
best friend we have, the one that gives us one of the largest 
amounts of earthly enjoyments; and if this over-taxing is con- 

O 




TEE LIVER. 


345 


tinned, it must certainly wear out prematurely, as tlie body itself 
will, if it is overworked every day. And if persons eat between 
meals, then the stomach has no rest from breakfast in the morn- 
ing, until one, two, three, or four o’clock next day; hence it is 
that so many persons have dyspepsia,, the stomach is worked so 
much and so constantly, that it becomes too weak to work at all. 
It is to be hoped that every intelligent parent will press these 
things on the attention of their children as a matter of con¬ 
science, because dyspepsia, like consumption, has its foundations 
laid, in a large majority of cases, during the a teens” of life. 


THE LITER. 

After food is eaten, it is made into blood, and sent direct to 
the liver to be filtered ; the office of the liver being to withdraw 
from the blood all that is waste, impure, and imperfect; this fil¬ 
tered blood is then sent to the lungs through the heart, to be 
prepared still more perfectly for imparting health, and strength, 
and warmth, and life to the whole bodv. Hence, if the liver 
does not do its work, it is said not to “ act,” to be “ torpid,” to be 
“ lazy,” to be “ asleep ; ” and the man soon becomes “ bilious,” 
the blood becomes so impure, so heavy, so thick, that the whole 
body becomes heavy, the head aches,' the mind is depressed, there 
is no life, no animation, no appetite. This waste and impure 
matter which is withdrawn from the blood is called the “ bile,” 
is collected together in a little receptacle holding a few table¬ 
spoons, called the 

GALL BLADDER. 

The almost universal te symptom ” or sign that the liver is not 
doing its work' properly, is an aversion to food, accompanied 
with a kind of sickisli feeling ; the very thought of eating is al¬ 
most enough to cause vomiting. The point in all such cases is 
first to carry out Nature’s instinct by eating nothing whatever 
until the appetite becomes voracious, keeping abundantly warm 
all the time. If persons are in a hurry to get well, then exercise 
in the open air from sunrise to sunset; exercise moderately, 
steadily, in something which is agreeable, and, better still, profit* 
able. 




346 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


The-advantage of tliis method of causing the liver to work is 
that each additional use of the remedy, if promptly applied the 
very hour the liver is noticed to be “ out of order,” will make 
the cure surer, easier, quicker, safer, every time. 

Exercise makes the liver “ work,” because in exercise all the 
muscles of the body are put in motion, and this motion is com¬ 
municated to the machinery within. The exercise should be out 
of doors, because out-door air’is purest, goes pure into the lungs, 
but comes out so impure that if rebreathed without any admix¬ 
ture of pure air, we would “ faint ” on the spot. The air going 
out being so freighted with the impurities of the blood, it in a 
sense lightens the burden of the liver, helps to unclog its ma¬ 
chinery, and it starts off to work itself with almost the instinct 
that an animal rises from the earthy when pressed down to it with 
an over-weight, the moment that weight is lightened. But there 
is a still more speedy method of making the liver “ work.” 

This important organ, the largest manufactory of the body, is 
at the lower edge of the ribs on the right side, extending nearly 
from the right hip over towards and near the navel. In one 
sense it is like a sponge, which, if pressed upon, parts with the 
liquid which it contains ; or like a bladder with an open mouth, 
pressure “squeezes” out its contents. Then with the ball.of the 
liand r at the body end of the thumb, press in towards the liver 
and downward, beginning at the right hip and coming round to 
the centre of the body over the stomach ; press firmly, aiding the 
pressure wdtli the other hand if you choose ; do this eight or ten 
minutes night and morning; this maybe called “ kneading the 
liver,” and is an excellent substitute for medicine. To persons 
who are troubled a great deal with biliousness, this is a very 
efficient means of remedying the trouble. 

A more speedy method still of making the liver work is to 
take medicines which are known to “ act ” on the liver, but this 
becomes more properly the province of the physician to advise, 
with this warning to all who prefer taking medicine : each sue- - 
cessive dose must be larger, in order to accomplish the same ob¬ 
ject, while the intervals become shorter, until after a while the 
man is all the time taking medicine, and is all the time sick; 
hence the unmedieinal means of keeping the liver at work are 
safest and best, because they offer no violence to the system, and 
become more and more efficient at each repetition. But some- 


PRIVIES. 


347 


times life can be saved only by giving relief within a few min> 
utes ; this is done by giving an 


. . EMETIC, 

the operation of which is to give a heave; this brings the stomach 
and other muscles- up against the liver, making a kind of 
pressure, as with the ball of the hand mentioned a while ago, but 
more efficiently; in fact, so much so, that the gall bladder sends 
its contents toward the stomach, causing by its presence there 
such deathly sickness that out they come through the mouth as 
“ bitter as gall, 5 ’ literally^. But as this heaving and straining has 
sometimes ruptured a blood-vessel, causing a bleeding to death, 
the reader is advised never to take an emetic on his own respon¬ 
sibility to make the liver work promptly, but rather consult a 
physician, or use the milder means previously named. 

-- 

PRIVIES. 

“ Water-closets,” “Necessaries,” or by what other name they 
may be called, were known by the ancient Romans as the “ Tem¬ 
ples of Cloacina; ” she being the goddess of purity. A gentle¬ 
man living in beautiful Tennessee, whenever he has a new 
guest, takes an early occasion to show him around his premises: 
the parlor, the library, the bath-room, liis own apartment while a 
guest, and last, not least, the privy or water-closet, which is 
among the most faultlessly tidy portions of his establishment. 
Ilis neighbors say of him sometimes he is “ queer in some 
things.” Pity is it that there are not a million to one like him. 
There is delicacy, wisdom, and healthful ness in the idea. How 
furtively has the reader, many a time, on going to a strange 
place, looked around for a servant, and with averted eyes and 
. whispering tone made inquiry as to this point; and then again 
how much afraid of encountering the opposite sex in going or 
returning, to say nothing of a most disagreeable apprehension of 
intrusion or interruption. 

On farms and on all country places, it should not fail to be ar¬ 
ranged to have what is necessary, in connection with the stable; 




348 


BALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


for among • other reasons a gentleman is naturally supposed tc 
have an interest in horses, and they could saunter around in that 
direction, those who saw them supposing they were going to look 
at the noblest of animals, while the man himself persuades his 
own mind that any one seeing him would suppose he was visiting 
the stable to take a look at its arrangements and occupants; so 
subtle a being is man. 

Constipation and piles are brought on in innumerable cases by 
deferring the calls of nature for the above or other causes, and 
standard medical works give detailed cases where persons by de¬ 
lays have induced inflammation of the bladder, dying in three or 
four days. Every mother should consider it a duty to impress 
upon the minds of children, beginning at the age of three or four 
years, the danger of delaying the calls of nature, and the influ¬ 
ence it has in impairing the health, and in bringing on life-long 
ailments. 

Almost all our common ailments are attended with costive¬ 
ness, and as the bowels become free again, recovery takes place. 
If a mother were to draw the attention of a sick child’to this fact 
that when the bowels began to act, the health improved, and that 
when sick, the bowels had failed to act that day and perhaps the 
day before,'it would make a practical and a radical impression on 
the child’s mind, with life-long benefits. 

-- 


NOSE DKENCIilNG. 

Some individuals are in the habit of drawing water through 
the nose into the mouth with an indefinite idea about its being 
advantageous in reference to catarrhal affections. The more this 
is done the greater craving there will be for its repetition, be¬ 
cause cold water of fifty or sixty degrees applied to a surface 
whose natural temperature is near one hundred,.inevitably chills 
it; the reaction of that chill is fever and inflammation, thus 
drying up a surface which Nature intended should be always 
moist. 

If warm water is used, the results are not so harmful, but 
warm water is harsh and hard in comparison with Nature’s 
lubricant, which is the mildest and softest possible. The inter- 




SICK AND POOR 


349 


nal passages and surfaces were intended to be always in a state 
of lubrication ; if water is habitually used, it being harsh in 
. comparison, the system learns to rely upon these artificial moist¬ 
enings, and the surfaces must be dry for a greater part of the 
time, as it is impossible to be sniffling watel’ up the nose every 
dialf-hour in the twenty-four, the result being a feeling of want 
of something whenever the parts are not sufficiently moist. All 
hnow what clots of hard substances are blown from the nose at 
times; these are loosened by the natural lubricants poured out 
under them, and pushing them off from the surface as fast as is 
needed, keeping the nasal passages clean and clear of obstruc¬ 
tions, and admitting a full supply of air at each breath: cer¬ 
tainly these are important considerations; every one has felt 
what a delightful sense of relief there is the moment after a 
large clot has been discharged from the nose. 

If these considerations are not sufficient to induce the aban¬ 
donment of the unnatural and hurtful habit, let it be remem¬ 
bered that the water sniffled .through the nose into the mouth 
carries with it whatever of .the natural secretion of the nose 
happens to be there. Our whole nature revolts .at the idea of 
taking into the mouth what has been discharged from the nose, 
and yet the sniffiers do this in effect. 

Very many persons are in the habit of closing the mouth and 
making a forcible - suction of air through the nose into the mouth, 
the effect of which is to carry the contents of the nose into the 
'mouth, and then spitting it out or swallowing it, instead of dis¬ 
charging it through the nose into the pocket-handkerchief. The 
habit is so common, and so utterly disgusting, that one would 
think that it was only necessary to draw attention to it to secure 
its universal abandonment. 

- 


SICK AND POOR. . 

Many a man who has not a dollar ahead thinks it a great 
calamity that he has not the means to enable him to get well, 
while every physician knows that in multitudes of cases the only 
obstacle to health in the case of the rich is that they are not 
obliged to work. There is many a “ fair ladie,” the occupant of 




350 


IIALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 

/ • 

a splendid mansion on Fifth avenue, who, rustling in costliest 
silks, taking her daily drives in her splendid equipage, walking 
on velvet carpets, and receiving in her saloons the culture and 
grace and elegance of the city, is at the same time a martyr to 
maladies all unsuspected by admiring outsiders: yet thin, and 
frail, and pallid she exists rather than lives; life is a burden 
rather than a blessing; all that she lacks to put the rose on her 
cheek, and make existence a happiness, is the necessity of scrub¬ 
bing floors at a dollar a day, or washing clothes at fifty cents a 
dozen, to purchase meat and bread enough to keep body and 
soul together. Hence it is infinitely easier for a poor man to get 
well than a rich one. The poor man can turn his hand to any¬ 
thing ; the unfortunate rich,knows nothing ; he can't split a rail, 
or drive a w T edge, or draw a cart, or curry a horse, for if he tried 
the last, he would be so awkward the poor brute would think it 
was some animal ^ougino; out his ribs, and would incontinentlv 

O c> D y J 

kick his brains, out, if indeed there were any there. Hence it 
many times happens that the fortune of the poor is their.poverty. 
A poor clergyman on consulting a physician, after having taken 
all the medicine he could get within ten miles, and getting worse 
fast, was advised to go to work. Some time after, in relating 
the improvement of his health and the means emplo} T ed, he 
writes, “ I am making collections for a compan} r and selling 
farm implements for the most part, stopping on a farm now a.'d 
then, and working for my board.” He was told that he was \ 
fortunate man ; that boarding around gave him a wholesome 
variety of food; and that collecting bills and selling agricultural 
implements was an honorable and useful employment; that it 
kept him exercising a great deal in the open air, and was an ad¬ 
mirable means of cultivating the powers of persuasive oratory; 
that bartering in a country store was the foundation of Patrick 
Henry’s immortality, as it gave him opportunities of meeting the 
sophistries of the common people, of overcoming their preju¬ 
dices, and observing what kind of arguments reached common 
minds; and he who can persuade money out of the pocket of a 
dilatory debtor, and can. make a miser buy what he don’t want, 
will soon be skilful enough to move the masses as Patrick 
Henry did, and win souls for his hire, besides curing himself 
of dyspepsia, hobgoblins, and other maladies. Many invalids 
and a great variety of ailments could be certainly, permanently, 


IIOW TO SLEEP WELL. 


351 


and happily cured, if the unfortunate sufferer only had the 
moral courage to engage in some out-door employment, requiring 
hut moderate activity, even if it yielded only money enough to- 
pay expenses; but mind, in proportion as the yield was greater, 
the sooner will the patient get well, for money-making is a 
medicine more efficient than the most potent pill of the apothe¬ 
cary. 

- — 

» • 

IIOW TO SLEEP WELL. 

Tfieke can be no healthful sleep except that which follows the 
sleepiness resulting from the voluntary and involuntary action of 
the muscles of the human body. Weston, the great walker, falls 
into a sound, deep sleep almost as soon as he is put to bed, at the 
appointed time for rest. This is the sleep from voluntary muscu¬ 
lar exercise. A person in good health sits around the house all 
day; an invalid may all day sit, and lounge, and lie down from 
morning until night, without sleeping ; and both the healthy man 
and the invalid, in the course of the evening, will become sleepy, 
and fall into sound repose, the. result of the weariness which in¬ 
voluntary motion brings about; for the various organs of the 
body, the heart, the liver, the stomach, the eyelids, work steadily 
every day. The intestines are as ceaseless in their motion as the 
waves of the ocean ; as these latter are always dashing towards 
the shore, so is the great visceral machinery working, working, 
working, pushing the wastes of the body downwards and out¬ 
wards from the first breath of existence to the last gasp of life. 

There is not a movement of the system, voluntary or involun¬ 
tary, external or internal, which does not require power to cause 
it. When that power is to a certain extent exhausted, instinct 
brings on the sensation of sleepiness, which is the result of ex¬ 
hausted power intended by nature to secure that cessation from 
active action which gives time for recuperation, very much as a 
man who runs for a while stops and rests, so as to get strength to 
run a«;ain.- 

We get up in the morning with a certain amount of reserve or 
accumulated strength; in the course of the day that strength be¬ 
comes expended to the point necessary for the commencement of 
a new supply, which supply comes from rest, the rest of sleep. 




352 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


Opium, narcotics, all forms of anodynes, cause sleep artificially, 
by compelling rest. A liorse may be tied so tliat he cannot move ; 
he is compelled to be at rest; it is not the rest of tiredness, hence 
is unnatural. Anodynes in a sense, tie a man down ; they take 
away his power of motion, they compel a rest, but it is not the 
rest which is a result of used-up strength, hence it is an artificial 
rest, causing artificial sleep, not natural; and sleep which is not 
natural cannot be healthful; hence the truth of the first utter¬ 
ance of the chapter: healthful sleep comes from the expenditure 
of the strength of the body in various forms of exercise. 

SLEEPLESSNESS AND INSANITY. 

There are more insane persons in the United States.than in any 
other part of the world, by one hundred per cent. “ I can’t sleep ” 
is a complaint becoming every day more familiar to the city 
physician, and sleeplessness alwa} r s precedes the ordinary forms 
of insanity; on the other hand, an improvement in the ability to 
sleep is a certain indication of coming restoration to reason. 
Hence the want of ability to sleep well, soundly, and connectedly 
should always meet with prompt attention, to prevent its becom¬ 
ing a habit, a second nature. The speediest method of doing this 
is to break up the present associations, whatever may be the sac¬ 
rifice ; get some different employment, something more active or 
stirring. The next best thing is a long journey on horseback, 
with a good companion ; a journey which' has an end in view, the 
selection or location of lands for investment; camping out for 
months together as far as is practicable from human habitations, 
relying for provisions wholly oil what can be caught or hunted. 
Visiting new and strange countries is another method of break¬ 
ing up the treadmill sameness of some kinds of business. The 
great point for those who cannot sleep satisfactorily is to be a 
large portion of the. time in the open air, and to be occupied in a 
way to bring into activity other muscles and other mental opera-' 
tions ; and in proportion as they are of pleasurable and absorbing 
interest, so much the happier will be the good effect, and the more 
speedy will be the return to that “ balmy sleep,” the very thought 
of which, as enjoyed in youth, is a happiness. Neither money 
nor medicine can purchase healthful sleep ; it can . only be pro¬ 
cured in all its deliciousness by large out-door activities or homely 
toil. 


ASTHMA. 


353 


“ BEST FOE COESUMPTIVES.” 

One of the most beautiful of the many magnificent charities 
of liberal New York, the largest-hearted city of the world, is an 
institution, a year old, called “ The House of Eest for Consump¬ 
tives,” where those who have no money can find a comfortable 
home, if there is any vacancy. To be doomed to certaih death, 
to know that it is an inevitable event, to occur only after weary 
weeks and months of insupportable, wasting cough, and restless 
nights, and not a pillow for the head, nor a cover for the body, 
nor a single penny for medicine, nor a morsel of food, has 
scarcely its equal for the terrible; and yet there are loving, 
thoughtful, and humane hearts in Hew York who have had a 
care for such, whose names we are glad to record in the follow¬ 
ing statement. Eeader, if you have a single dollar to spare, 
send it on right away, and the angel of goodness will make a 
note of it to be forwarded up to heaven. 

The first anniversary of the founding of the House of Eest 
for Consumptives was held lately, at the House, at Tremont, 
H". Y. About 150 persons were present, among whom were 
Bishops Potter and Littlejohn. The annual report was read by 
the President, Mr. Henry J. Cammann. Through the agency 
of Miss Bogle, the lady now in charge, the present Board of 
Trustees w r as organized in October, a year ago. A building, 
with about one and a half acres of ground, was obtained at Tre¬ 
mont, and on the 1 st of November the House was opened for 
the admission of patients. The Institution was supported by 
voluntary contributions from surrounding churches, and many 
of the articles of furniture were thus received. During the past 
year, about $10,000 have been expended ; 38 patients (21 men, 17 
women) have been admitted ; 14 have been dismissed, most of 
them much benefited; 12 have died, and 12 are now in the care 
of the House. 

■-- 

ASTHMA 

is an incurable disease by human agencies. An attack can be 
modified or shortened, and this is all that the thousand and one 
. 23 




354 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


vaunted remedies for tlie “ cure ” of asthma can do; they alle¬ 
viate or remove for the time, nothing more. Sometimes the dis¬ 
ease lies dormant for months or years, only to reappear in some 
change of life, or some more terrible form of human affliction. 
In some cases it disappears in childhood, to show itself again 
after forty years. Children sometimes “ outgrow ” it. If it dis¬ 
appears at the “ change of life,” it may not be heard of again, 
but thart life will seldom reach threescore and ten. 

It is very certain that persons troubled with asthma may be 
exempt from it for a succession of years, and even for life, by 
removing to a different atmosphere or a different climate; hence, 
instead of losing time in the attempt to “ cure ” asthma, or of 
being- satisfied with shortening or curing merely an attack of it, 
it would bo a wiser course to change localities or climates. 
Standard medical works give interesting cases in which exemp¬ 
tion more or less permanent is secured by moving from the city 
to the country, from a level to a hilly locality, from the seaside 
to inland, from Maine to Florida, from Cape Cod to California, 
and the reverse of all these ; that is, an entire change of air does 
sometimes exempt from asthmatic attacks. 

When such changes are impracticable from any cause, the next 
best thing is not to have asthma at all. It is exceedingly incon¬ 
venient to be blowing like a porpoise, to feel as if fifty thousand 
feather pillows were piled upon your face, to have the sensation 
that you would certainly die if you stopped breathing long enough 
to say “ Yes ” or “ Yo ; ” and yet such are the sensations during 
an attack of asthma. And what is worse, these worse than in¬ 
quisitorial tortures usually come on towards daylight, the very 
time when sleep is most delicious; you are obliged to sit up in 
bed, and with your head leaning forward on your drawn-up 
knees, you feel, until the longed-for daylight comes, and some¬ 
times for hours later, as if every breath would be your last, and 
mortal agony is depicted in every lineament of the face. 

But there, is, as the poet says, “ comfort in brooks and stones, 
in everything.” Asthmatics never die ; they can whistle at con¬ 
sumption, and bronchitis, and all such tough customers; that is, 
asthmatics generally live to old age, unless this form of the dis¬ 
ease disappears; asthma itself is antagonistic of consumption. 
In consumption you can’t get air enough in to support life, be¬ 
cause there are not lungs enough to receive it; in asthma you 


WARMING COUNTRY noUSES. 


355 


can’t get tlie air out, lienee, remaining in, it gets warmer, and dis¬ 
tends the lungs by its increasing rarefaction, and thus develops 
them. 

Asthma is almost always the result of a bad cold attacking an 
asthmatic constitution. This cold forms phlegm in the branches 
of the windpipe,—a tough, sticky phlegm, which adheres to the 
insides of these hollow branches of the windpipe; and as the 
air goes into these branches with more force than it comes out, 
it has the effect to carry the phlegm before it, downwards, in the 
shape of a plug, into a narrowing orifice, and so to speak, the 
cork is driven in tighter and tighter by every breath that is 
drawn. But it is with asthma as in other diseases; when they 
reach their worst, that is, their “ crisis,” they begin to get better. 
It is not necessary to say how, just here, but the suggestion is re¬ 
peated, that it would save a great deal of suffering and trouble if 
persons would only not have asthma ; and all that one has to do 
is simply to never take a cold ; and certainly a man need not 
take a cold once in a year or five or ten years. All that he has 
to do is to dress abundantly warm to avoid getting chilled, and 
to cool off slowly after being overheated; that is, after being 
warmer than is natural. Such is the true philosophy of common 
asthma. 

-- 


WARMING COUNTRY HOUSES. . 

One of the most important items in the preservation of the 
general health is being comfortably, warm all the time, for then 
we would never take cold. There should be a room in every 
farmer’s family which should be kept at a temperature not 
under sixty-five degrees Fahrenheit from daylight until bed¬ 
time, all winter, by stove or furnace heat; stove heat is better, 
because it will bring up the heat more quickly. When the 
farmer comes in from his Work he is generally overheated and 
tired, both conditions making him greatly more susceptible of 
taking cold ; or if, on the other hand, he is very cold from hav¬ 
ing been riding or engaged in something which has not in\ol\cd 
activity enough to keep him adequately warm, a well-heated 
room is exceedingly grateful, and gradually raises the tempera¬ 
ture of the surface of the body to its natural condition. 




350 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


Large stoves consume less fuel in proportion than small ones, 
and give out more heat, hence are more economical. 

' It is a common error in the country to have too small stoves, 
so as to economize space, and under the mistaken notion that 
they consume less fuel in proportion. A circular stove, six feet 
high and about two in diameter, lined with fire-brick two feet 
high, will keep a large room more equably warm, and maintain a 
purer atmosphere, with a very much less amount of fuel, than 
our common stoves. Stoves of this shape, made of porcelain, 
are used in Germany and Russia, where wood is grown for fuel; 
and from personal observation we think that about half the 
amount of wood is consumed, giving a greater, better, and more 
comfortable heat than we have here. In farmers’ houses an 
immense amount of heat is used in warming all out-doors. The 
longer a flue is, the stronger the draft; all flues should be built 
from the ground, thus securing a good draft, and also saving 
millions of property every year from being burned. 

Two sitting rooms on the same floor and one or two chambers 
above may be adequately warmed by one stove, thus: Let the 
stove stand in one room and let a pipe of good size be sent 
through the partition into the adjoining room, where it should 
expand into a large drum; from this drum the ordinary pipe 
should extend through the floor into the chamber above, with a 
drum there if needed. Only a moderate amount of heat is 
needed in a chamber; but that moderate amount is needed in 
winter time. There is no advantage in going to bed in a cold 
room, nor in sleeping in a cold room, nor in getting up and 
dressing in a cold room ; persons may survive it, many have lost 
health by it; to have the chill taken off the air on going to bed, 
and when dressing, is comfortable and healthful. A room 
under forty-five degrees is a cold room for a sleeping apartment, 
and sleeping in an atmosphere in-doors lower than that is always 
hurtful, is always positively pernicious, for the simple reason, 
that such a temperature causes the carbonic-acid gas of a sleeping 
apartment to condense and settle in the lower part of the room, 
where it is breathed into the lungs, with all its pernicious re¬ 
sults. Sleeping in a room cooler than above named is especially 
daugerons to feeble and aged or invalid persons, as it tends to 
cause inflammation of the lungs. Persons may sleep out of doors 
with impunity when the temperature is many degrees lower; 


DR UNKEHNESS A DISEASE. 


tliat is because the out-door air is pure, is full of life, full of 
oxygen, without any admixture of in-door poisons, hence gives a 
vigor of circulation which keeps the whole body warmed to its 
natural point, resisting cold and all diseased conditions. 

- ooo - 

DRUNKENNESS A DISEASE. 

Under this view of the case it is said that more than half the 
persons who submit to the treatment are cured in the hands of 
Dr. Dodge, at the New York State Asylum for Inebriates, at 
Binghamton, and Dr. Parrish of Philadelphia. The method of 
treatment adopted by Dr. Dodge, a gentleman of wealth and 
culture and professional ability, is to remove the cause promptly 
and completely on entering the establishment, then to gain the 
cooperation and confidence of the patient. Such food is provided 
for each as is calculated to tempt the appetite and promote 
digestion, and thus bring back the power of a debilitated and 
outraged stomach; for it is a good digestion which gives strength 
of body as well as a vigorous and healthy working brain, which 
of itself is a great aid to strong resolutions not to touch, taste, 
or smell the abominable thing. To give varied occupation to the 
mind, and exercise to the body, with a motive, a great variety of 
amusements are inaugurated—as billiards, chess, backgammon, 
dominos, and out-door sports, with a well-appointed reading-room, 
and a variety of social gatherings, reunions, and conversations; 
then there are pianos, organs, violins, banjos, harps, and vocal 
music besides. When patients have been there long enough to 
acquire force of will sufficient to enable them to resist any ordi¬ 
nary temptation, they are allowed to range over field and wood, 
and employ themselves in cutting canes, making curious toys, and 
contriving devices for diversion and amusement. Everything 
done is of a nature calculated to elevate, refine, and ennoble. 

This is the bright side. Drunkenness is a habit, an appetite 
cultivated to the extent of becoming inappeasible, like a natural 
passion, and which will not be satisfied without an indulgence, to 
return again forever, like the sense of hunger for food, or thirst 
for water; like the passions of our nature. Now and then a 
man may have such an extraordinary force of will as to over- 




HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


353 

power the passion, just as some men have force of will enough to 
resist eating until they die. But such powers of will are not 
found oftener than once in a thousand. The only safety from a 
ruinous life, a disgraced name, and a beastly death, is the system¬ 
atic, habitual avoidance of spirituous liquors in all their forms, 
from cider and lager beer to wine, brandy, and absinthe ; for the 
use of the mildest beverage now and then, in courtesy to friend 
or hostess, is but the first step to a ruined fortune, and name, and 
body, and soul; and to avoid these first steps to death, so dis¬ 
graceful and inevitable, is to make home the pleasantest place in 
the world for children, so as to keep them out of the city street, 
and away from the country grocery, the circus, the theatre, and 
railroad station. Train the children early to the conviction that 
they must do something for a living; teach them that to earn 
money honestly is a first virtue, and next to that, saving it; any 
child practising these once, is saved for all time. 

Whether drunkenness is a disease or an inappeasable appetite, 
the unfortunate individual ought to have our sympathy, and all 
the aid which can be given to save from the ruin which 
threatens. The Asylum at Binghamton is under the direction 
of Dr. Dodge, the founder of the-Washingtonian Home, at 
Boston, Mass.; it is literally a home, and not a prison with bolts 
and bars. There is only one restriction—that upon liquor; its 
use must be promptly, wholly, and forever abandoned; in all 
other respects, there is as much liberty to go and return, to eat, 
drink, sleep, dress, hunt, fish, and recreate, as a guest would have 
in the house of a friend The inmates pay for everything they 
get, and are as perfectly independent as if they were at an xkstor 
House or a Fifth Avenue. There are libraries and reading-rooms, 
with newspapers, magazines, and periodicals from all parts of the 
country; and the associations are as cultivated, scholarly, and 
mannerly as can be found on board a first-class steamship for 
the Continent. An ex-patient states that the rules governing 
the inmates are of the mildest sort Most excellent attention is 
given to the sick, and a great variety of rational amusements are 
provided. 

Dr. Parrish, of Philadelphia, presides over another “home,” 
and for his intelligent, self-sacrificing efforts, for years together, 
to perfect a reform intended to save some of the best hearts and 
the greatest intellects of the country, he, with those who are 


DRUNKENNESS A DISEASE. 


359 


engaged in a like humane work, merits and receives the admira¬ 
tion and respect of all good men. 

Applicants who are able, pay their own expenses; and often 
arrangements are made to accommodate those who have no 
means. In view of all the dreadful calamities which befall a 
man, sooner or later, who becomes enslaved by drink, let every 
parent begin early to inspire the minds of children, girls as well 
as boys, with a terror of the despotism of alcohol; and let it be 
woven in the framework of their minds from day to day, that 
there is only one way of safety, and that is, never, under any 
conceivable circumstances, whether of sickness or of pain, to 
swallow a drop of the accursed thing. Alcohol for the sick is 
never a necessity; in no case whatever is it more than an in¬ 
ferior substitute or makeshift for something that is much better. 

“ The most confirmed drunkard cured by a remedy which can 
be given without the knowledge of the patient ” is announced in 
the daily papers. Should this be true, it will be a great 
blessing. 

There is no family in the land who has not or may not have a 
personal interest in this admirably managed institution. A let¬ 
ter addressed to Carrol Hyde, Secretary, Binghamton, Y. Y., 
will secure a report, which is full of interest. The object of this 
institution is to break up the habit of drinking liquor. Some of 
the statistics are suggestive. The number treated during 1871 was 
315. Thirty per cent, of the inmates paid twenty dollars a week ; 
twenty-five per cent, fifteen dollars; twenty per cent, could not 
pay anything; showing that more than one-half of the inebriates 
are from the wealthier classes. 

One-fifth were discharged unimproved, meaning hopeless, ut¬ 
terly hopeless of reform; a terrible lesson to those who ever taste 
or touch the “ flowing bowl.” 

One-fifth had a collegiate education; two-fifths had an aca¬ 
demical education ; all had been to school, showing that, 

Two-thirds were of a lively, cheerful disposition; of the tem¬ 
peraments, nervous, sanguine, bilious, each had a third. Two- 
thirds were whiskey-drinkers; a fourth wine and brandy ; fifteen 
from opium. 

One-tliird had intemperate ancestors. Two-thirds drank habit¬ 
ually before meals. One-fourth from trouble or pecuniary em¬ 
barrassment. 


360 


HALL'S FA HILT DOCTOR. 


One-lialf were constant drinkers; one-third had sprees now 
and. then. One-lialf were married; one-third bachelors. The 
oldest, sixty-three ; the youngest, nineteen. 

One-third were from the city. Nearly one-half were mer¬ 
chants and merchants’ clerks. One in twelve had no occupation. 
The chaplain reports that the inebriate is physically, mentally, 
and morally deteriorated; that he loses self-control, and that if 
left to himself to reform, he is, nine cases in ten, lost! because 
in the popular estimation there is little hope of his reformation ; 
consequently all business confidence is withdrawn from him; he 
sees it; next he begins to be regarded with pity and contempt, 
and becomes conscious of his position ; he loses all self-respect, 
becomes an outcast, and generally falls away into the darkness 
of a dishonored grave. 

There were two clergymen, six physicians, and twenty-five 
lawyers. "We visited Binghamton in August, IS71, purposely to 
become acquainted with the workings of the institution; but un¬ 
fortunately there was no official in the house higher than the man 
who was sweeping the floor ; but he did it well, and took a polite 
pleasure in showing and telling all he could; his views of ine¬ 
briate management were thoughtful and philosophical. Little 
did he know the inexpressible sorrow a single sentence of his 
shot across our heart, when he said in answer to a question pro¬ 
pounded in reference to an only son of one of our oldest, and 
best, and most cultivated and happy households, “ Beyond rem¬ 
edy.” Young, high-born, and heir to large estates, “ beyond 
remedy.” The institution is “ beautiful for situation,” command¬ 
ing one of the loveliest views in the land. The rooms are large 
and airy. There are various pastimes, games, libraries, reading- 
rooms, music, regular public worship under the judicious con¬ 
duct of Bev. Samuel TV. Bush, Chaplain, whose report is worthy 
of circulation in every household. 

A very sad report comes from the Inebriates’ Home at Fort 
Hamilton, New York, that nearly one-lialf were women ! Of 
seventy-two married, forty-five were separated from their part¬ 
ners because of intemperance. Two-thirds of the whole number 
of inmates were separated from their partners because of their 
intemperance. Four-fifths were whiskey drinkers; one-tliird 
hereditary drinkers. Beer-drinking Germans had not a single 
representative, nor had a single case of delirium tremens ever oc- 


VELOCITY. 


301 


cnrred in the institution as a result of drinking beer or other fer¬ 
mented liquors. 

The reformed inebriate from Binghamton rejoices in the fact 
that instead of placing the bottle on the table to every visitor 
which was almost universal less than fifty years ago, “ It is no 
longer deemed obligatory to provide strong drink at christenings 
and funerals; that it is possible in New York city to have a 
wedding reception without wine and brandy; that some noble 
ladies have the courage on New Year’s Day to place nothing 
stronger than tea and coffee before their callers.” He closes by 
saying, “ And last of all, and best of all, there exists an organized 
army of temperance men, who are determined to prohibit by law 
the sale of strong drink.” This last sentence shows the senti¬ 
ment of an educated man, who has been through the tire, that 
the most efficient engine for the prevention of intemperance is 
that which makes it most impossible to obtain anything to get 
drunk on. Prevention costs less than punishment and remedy. 
The philosophy, the theory, the practice of this whole subject of 
the banishment of intemperance as a national and social vice, is 
contained in half a dozen words of Holy Writ, 

TOUCH NOT, TASTE NOT, HANDLE NOT. 

Drunkenness is unfortunately so prevalent, even creeping in 
among the wives and daughters of the land, that there is scarcely 
a family into which this book may come which will not have a 
special and personal interest in the details above given. A sud¬ 
den fit of drunkenness may be cured. 

If a man is almost dead drunk, or has just taken a large 
amount of liquor which would kill him if allowed to remain in 
the stomach, raise the head, loosen the clothing, and give an 
emetic of a large tablespoonful of ground mustard, and as much 
common salt, stirred quickly in half a glass or more of water; 
the more water the better. See article, “ The Wedding Day.” 

- - - — ^ - - 

VELOCITY. 

H. Min. Sec. 


1 mile locomotive.. 1. 00 

1 mile running, Henry Perritt. .. 1. 42* 






3G2 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR 




\ 


H. Min. Sec 

1 mile pacing, Pocahontas. 2. 17f 

1 mile trotting, Bonner’s Dexter. 2. ISf 

2 miles trotting, Flora Temple. 4. 50 \ 

4 miles running, Lexington. 7. 19J 

3 miles trotting, Dutchman. 7. 32J 

16 miles trotting, Prince. 50. OOf 

20 miles trotting, Trustee. 59. 35-| 

100 miles trotting, Conqueror. 8. 55. 00 

100 miles, couple, Busk and Bobin... 10. 17. 22 

Miles. 

Ocean steamers average per hour. 11 

River boats. 20 

Race-horse at the rate of. 30 

Bird. 60 

Hurricane. 80 

Sound. 804 

Earth round the sun. 68,000 

Light. 690,000,000 

Electricity. 1,000,000,000 


A telegram could go to the sun in five minutes. If a cannon 
ball were shot from the earth towards the sun, and on the instant 
of the flash a telegram was sent to that effect, the inhabitants of 
the sun would have two months to get ready for it, but it would 
be ten years before they would hear the explosion. All have 
seen that light travels faster than sound. 

But it is not wholesome to be in a lmrry. Locomotives have 
been reported to have moved a mile in a minute for short’ dis¬ 
tances. But locomotives have often come to grief by such great 
rapidity.' Multitudes in their haste to get rich are ruined every 
year. The men who do things maturely, slowly, deliberately, are 
the men who oftenest succeed in life. People who are habitually 
in a hurry generally have to do things twice over. The tortoise 
beat the hare at last. Slow men seldom knock their brains out 
against a post. Foot-races are injurious to health, as are all forms 
of competitive exercises; steady labor in the ffeld is the best 
gymnasium in the world. Either labor or exercise carried to ex¬ 
haustion, or prostration, or even to great tiredness, expressed by 
“ fagged out,” always does more harm than the previous exercise 




















DOMESTIC SERVANTS. 


3G3 


lias done good. All running upstairs, running to catch up with 
a vehicle or ferry-boat, are extremely injurious to every age, and 
sex, and condition of life. It ought to he the most pressing 
necessity which should induce a person over fifty to run twenty 
yards. Those live longest who are deliberate, whose actions are 
measured, who never embark in any enterprise without u sleeping 
over it,” and who perform all the everyday acts of life with calm¬ 
ness. Quakers are a proverbially calm, quiet people, and Quakers 
are a thrifty folk, the world over. 


DOMESTIC SERVANTS 

are human beings. This announcement may surprise some 
who read it, but it is true for all that. Half the housewives in 
the land, at the very least one-half of them, have forgotten this 
important truth, if, indeed, they ever knew it. 

Domestic servants are full of human nature ; in fact, they are 
a great deal too full of it; and the only remedy is to take out 
some, and replace it with grace ; that is, let mistresses, instead of 
heaping upon them all the epithets of the “ catalogue,” as Dame 
Partington would say, lift them to a higher plane of life, by con¬ 
siderate courtesies and humane forbearance. They are ignorant, 
and allowance should be made for it. They have feelings, and 
those feelings should be respected. They need encouragement; 
they need a good example. Uniform civility and politeness to ser¬ 
vants is a power over them. Servants, with all their want of 
learning and with all their disadvantages of birth and rearing, 
are quick and accurate observers of character; and they fix in 
their own minds the moral status of the mistress, even a little 
quicker than the mistress forms a true estimate of their availa¬ 
bility as aids in housekeeping; and whatever they see which lowers 
their estimation of the mistress, diminishes their respect for her, 
and makes them less ambitious to please her and to secure her 
good-will. 

If the mistress is passionate and impatient, if she is changeable, 
if she has .no mind of her own, if she is double-faced, has one 
bearing towards, visitors when present and another when they are 
gone, if petulant at the table, if unreasonable in her- exactions, 




364 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


if inconsiderate in the amount of services required, if, in a mea¬ 
sure, regardless of the personal comfort and welfare of those in 
the kitchen, every deficiency is measured, and the standard of 
respect lowered accordingly. 

Scolding, loud talking, depreciating epithets, never made any 
servant better, always makes them more inefficient and unreliable ; 
it is much better to appeal to their intelligence, their self respect, 
seldom, if ever, to their religion ; that is too sacred a thing to be 
brought into the daily affairs of common life. 

Familiarity with servants is always a mistake; keep them at a 
respectful distance; let them be made to feel your superiority, 
not by mere assertion, but by your high bearing. Encourage¬ 
ment, courtesy, patience, consideration, and sympathy—these are 
the qualities which will seldom fail to make bad servants good, 
and good servants better, especially when the maid sees that the 
mistress knows how things ought to be done. Domestic rule 
should be one of love rather than of fear. 

- -jyz - 

FAILURES IN BUSINESS. 

What untold agonies wrench the heart of an honorable busi¬ 
ness man, as he sees himself approaching the maelstrom which is 
to ingulf the savings of a lifetime, and more than that, which 
leaves him a debtor to those who once trusted him, to say noth¬ 
ing of the enduring wretchedness of seeing his own loved ones 
living in self-denial and destitution, hopeless of any remedy from 
his hands! During 1870, three thousand five hundred men 
failed in business, owing to other persons one hundred millions 
of dollars. 

To be old and poor, and have no home, is terrible beyond ex¬ 
pression ; but how many these failures have sent to a premature 
grave, and, worse, to a mad-house, and, worse still, to crime and 
bodily degradation, only the Judgment can disclose. What 
hopes have been blasted, what hearts wilted and withered away, 
no one may know. But a near question comes home to the 
reader : “ Who knows but I may fail before another year ? who 
knows but that I may be in an early grave, my wife in the mad¬ 
house, my son in the penitentiary, and my daughter on the street, 




FAILURES IN BUSINESS. 


365 


as not remote results of sucli an event, and liow may I certainly 
prevent it?” 

Some men fail by trusting others, some by being trusted. 
The man has never yet been found who was willing to acknowl¬ 
edge that he failed because he had no more sense. It is always 
somebody else that broke him. 

Solomon said, “ He that hateth suretyship is sure.” Wonder 
if he found that out by having indorsed somebody’s note ! 

“ THE MASTER ” 

would not trust Himself to man, because He knew what was in 
man, that the human heart w r as deceitful above all things, and 
desperately wdcked. 

The man who trusts, and the man who is trusted, aim at the 
same result; both hope to make money by the operation, and 
very often both lose. If all business was done on the basis of a 
“ cash transaction,” or, as John Randolph expressed it, 

“ PAY AS YOU GO,” 

human suffering, and sorrow, and sickness, would be diminished 
by one-half, and human crime and human curse would largely 
disappear. Two short rules might serve to abate much of the 
mental misery and moral degradation of debt: 

Never trust out more than you can afford to lose. 

Never engage to pay more than you have money to pay already 
in your pocket, and the next minute pay it out. 

If everybody were to observe these two simple rules, this 
world would be better and happier in a year than it has been 
since Eve found out that Hie wanted a better dress. 


366 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


ACONITE 

Is wolf s-bane or monk’s-hood, from the shape of the tall, spike¬ 
like, dingy yellowish or purple blossom. The leaves and root 
are both medicinal—the leaves while green, the root only after the 
leaves have fallen. The leaves have a bitter, acrid taste, giving a 
tingling and numbness to lips, mouth, and throat, lasting some¬ 
times for hours. The root is sweetish at first, but leaving the 
sensation which the leaves do. Aconite is a species of Crowfoot, 
and is allied to the buttercup, with five petals, the highest arched 
with three or five pods. The ancients regarded it as a powerful 
poison. It was first used as a medicine in Germany in 1872. 
The blossoms, give out an odor in summer, which causes, sick¬ 
ness and fainting, and is even poisonous to children and sickly 
feeble people w T ho go too near the plant. Fatal results have fol¬ 
lowed the taking of its root for horseradish. It is frequently 
used, both root and leaves, for causing sleep, perspiration, and 
urination. When applied outwardly, it relieves rheumatic and 
neuralgic pains. Take one scruple of extract of aconite, one 
ounce each of soap liniment and compound camphor liniment, 
rub it well into the part night and morning; or, pour some 
alcohol on the root and leaves, and rub in a teaspoonful two or 
three times a day. 

For internal use, take from a quarter of a grain to two grains 
of the extract. 


-- 

MENDING FINGERS, 

Ok toes or nose, or any other part of the body which has been 
' cut, may be done successfully by taking the part cut off and press¬ 
ing it against the other portion attached to the body, so arranged 
that the pressure should be steady and continuous, hard enough to 
keep the parts in contact. We all know that in case of a gash in 
the flesh, if the parts are immediately pressed together and kept 
in contact, they will soon unite ; so will solid bone, sometimes, 
only keep the parts in steady contact, and keep the air out by ap¬ 
propriate wrappings or bandages. . * 




DIPHTHERIA. 


0/^*7 

oO i 

A Mr. B. had his left forefinger severed* by a straw-cutter; 
he came down-stairs, leaving his finger behind him, but another 
gentleman went up for it, held it against the stump until the 
physician came, who secured it in its place, where it grew to¬ 
gether ; the joint, however, remained stiff. 

The sharper the instrument the cleaner is the cut, and the more 
readily will it unite, especially if the bowels are regular, a fruit 
and coarse bread diet is adhered to, and no jar or jolt or other 
violence is offered to the wounded part. 

- '/x -- 

D1PIITIIEBIA 


Is a Greek word, meaning a membrane which forms in the wind¬ 
pipe, as in croup,, and arises from the same causes—wet and cold 
acting on a debilitated system, as if it were a typhoid type of 
croup ; croup attended with too much debility to allow the system 
to rise without help. 

Filth and over-eating, bad air, etc., seem to cause diphtheria, 
but that might be because these debilitate the system and make 
it more liable to bad colds from slight causes. It is a disease of 
the mucous membrane of the throat, like croup. There is a 
resemblance in several points between croup, diphtheria, and 
scarlet fever: they all attack the throat, all arise from wet and 
cold and debility of the system at the time, habitual or tran¬ 
sient. 

Croup generally comes on very slowly ; it usually requires 
several days for it to come to its height; or it comes on suddenly, 
the child having been in seeming perfect health a few hours 
before. Scarlet fever is preceded by some derangement of the 
stomach and bowels always, although not always noticed. Diph¬ 
theria often comes on suddenly with nausea or vomiting or dizzi¬ 
ness, palpitations, faintness, neuralgic pain in the legs; or sudden 
attacks of loose bowels, debilitating greatly; or difficult urination 
or menstruation, or some irregularity in it; there is chilliness, ii i i- 
tability, and then the throat begins to be inflamed. 

There are three great distinguishing symptoms in diphtheria 

Excessive debility. 

Yery foul breath. 




36S 


HALL'S FAMIL T DOCTOR. 


Patches all about the mouth, tongue, inner cheeks, and throat, 
whitish, yellowish, ashy, varying; in severe cases these patches ex¬ 
tend up into the nose, and downwards towards the lungs; in bad 
cases the glands of the parts swell, blood oozes from the internal 
mucous surfaces, often throwing out an acrid and extremely offen¬ 
sive fluid. 


HOMOEOPATHIC TREATMENT 

of diphtheria consists in attacking it promptly, in the earliest stages, 
with belladonna in mild cases; twelve globules in a tablespoon¬ 
ful of water, one teaspoonful every two hours until there is a 
change for the better. When there is not much fever, but great 
uneasiness and debility, with bad breath, take acidum muriaticum, 
three drops of the second decimal solution in one teaspoonful of 
water, every two hours, until there is a change for the better. 

If the throat is swollen, of a deep red, and specks, and the saliva 
flows abundantly, take mercurius protiodatus. If no improvement 
in twelve hours, take kali bicliromicum. If the surface patches con¬ 
tinue to present themselves, and throat is getting painful, give 
acidum nitrieum. If these symptoms remain stationary after 
twenty hours, give kali cliloricmn. 

If there is great fever and headache, and violent pains in back 
and limbs, with weakness, administer phytolacca. If there is 
great debility from the first, give apis mellifica. When .patches 
appear, and there is a scarlet redness in the throat, and there is 
burning or scalding urine, give cantharides. 

If there is great restlessness after midnight, with prostration of 
strength, give arsenicum. 

Sometimes the exudations of diphtheria tend downwards and the 
voice begins to alter; then give sodium. In desperate cases when 
blood oozes from the mucous membrane of the mouth, then give 
ammonium causticum, mere, iod., and kali bicliromicum. 

Glycerine applied with a camel’s-hair brush seems to dissolve the 
false membrane; when this disappears, then the true membrane 
should be painted with acidum muriaticum, giving it internally 
also, if there is any tendency to a re-formation of the membrane. 

The food should be strengthening, as eggs; beaten up with a lit¬ 
tle wine or brandy, milk and water with some sugar, strong beef- 
tea ; if the strength seems to be failing give wine, champagne, in 


DIPHTHERIA. 


3G9 


small quantities often repeated, or mix tliem with the milk and 
beef-tea. 

HYDROPATHIC 

management of diphtheria is to give a hot bath at the onset, to 
young and old, in the form of a whole bath or a sitz ; if the lat¬ 
ter, cover the patient with a thick dry blanket, and let an atten¬ 
dant put the hands under and flap the water against the chest and 
ribs with the hand, so as to aid in producing sweating ; to this end 
keep on adding hot water until the object is attained, then the symp¬ 
toms will begin to abate ; then, as soon as the sitz-bath' is over, go 
direct to a pack of cold water, with additional wet cloths over the 
chest and around the neck up to the chin. If the patient is chilly 
use hot-water compresses about breast and throat; if sleep comes 
on it is a favorable indication ; let it continue four or five or six 
hours, it will strengthen the patient; if there is no sleep, continue 
the pack for an hour, unless the patient becomes weary or rest¬ 
less. The bath-room should be seventy degrees ; but when packed 
let in cool air gradually, down to sixty or even lower. But when 
the pack is ended have the room up to seventy again ; rub the 
whole body until quite dry, and then give a good rubbing with 
the naked hands ; this, if properly done, leaves the skin in a soft, 
healthy condition. Then put wet bandages to the throat and 
chest so as to fit well, covering them with dry cloths. Put the 
patient to bed with a w r et cap on the head, and hot bricks or 
water-bottles to the feet, for they must be kept warm. The room 
should be kept quiet, and not too light. 

The great object aimed at in the water-cure treatment is to re¬ 
lieve the internal congestions, to bring the blood to the surface, 
and thus equalize the circulation ; hence the after-treatment is to 
keep the feet warm by frequent and plentiful frictions, or apply 
warm or hot flannels, wet or dry. The dry are best, and the 
warm hard rubbings still better. 

Bemember that the essence of diphtheria is debility. The 
patient needs rest and quiet. Keep out company, court sleep ; 
encourage, avoid all anxious questions on business matters, and 
by all means give -an abundant supply of pure air, out-door air 
warmed. 

Encourage the patient to drink boiled or rain water only; to eat 
nothing whatever, until all the symptoms have greatly abated, 
24 




370 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


until tlie patient desires food, and then give such in a fluid form 
regularly at intervals of three or four hours, with little sugar or 
butter or fat. The hot water and steaming appliances above named 
dissolve the false membrane, causing a very copious expectoration, 
amounting to quarts in the course of twenty-four hours. 

Relapses are of frequent occurrence from over-exercise ; hence 
persons should remain in the house several days, undertaking no 
severe labor, no hurried or straining work. 

The bowels should be moved daily with enemas. 

Forty years ago Bretonneau of Tours gave his name to a 
disease which is now so familiar, so fearful, yet it was known in 
Egypt, and was described by Aretaeus of Cappadocia. Ilecker 
described it in Holland in 1337; Carnevale, at Naples in 1620 ; 
Dr. Douglas of Boston, Mass., in 1736, and Dr. Sami. Band, of 
New York, in 1771. It was epidemic in France in 1S55, passed 
over to England in 1857, appeared in California, and in 1860 
prevailed in the Eastern States. It is now believed that Washing¬ 
ton, Josephine, and Stephanie, the beautiful Queen of Portugal, 
all died of diphtheria. The very first symptoms are a general feel¬ 
ing of discomfort, slight sore throat, and a swelling of the glands 
behind the jaws, with fever, headache, furred tongue, and some 
difficulty in swallowing. On examination, the jaws and throat are 
reddish or purple. Its real cause has not as yet been determined ; 
it prevails in limited bounds as in a small town, a crowded school, 
a large family, several perishing in a short time, children being 
more liable than adults. It is known from scarlet fever or putrid 
sore throat by having no eruption on the outer skin, but a substi¬ 
tute in the whitish or gray or yellow patches about the tongue, fauces, 
and surrounding parts, and a brick-dust, flush, or strawberry- 
colored tongue. 

In thrush and aphthae the splotches are not so large and are 
more dull; there is, besides, not so much general disturbance. 
Thrush also begins in the mouth, not in the throat, and is very 
rare except in young children. 

Diphtheria is known from croup in its severer form ; croup does 
not spread, is not “catching,” is not attended with such excessive 
debility, nor has it a fetor in the breath. In diphtheria the mem¬ 
brane is more conspicuous than the tonsils and upper part of the 
throat; in croup it is lower down, in the windpipe. 

Diphtheria is more of a disease of the general system, a disease 


LADIES' HAIR. 


371 


of debility, and needs building up from the start. Open the bow¬ 
els with salts, a teaspoonful every hour until there is free action; 
then give to a child of four years five grains of the chlorate of 
potash every two hours, or for adults twenty drops of chloride of 
iron, or twenty drops of the sesquichloride of iron in two ounces 
of pure glycerine; dose, half a teaspoonful; to adults a grain or 
two of quinine, every two hours, aids to keep up the strength; or 
a drachm of permanganate of potash in a pint and a half of water— 
dose, one teaspoonful every hour. Only concentrated liquid food 
with brandy to it, beef-tea, milk and water, wine whey, or some 
kind of punch. Let ice melt in the mouth as much as is wanted; 
honey and muriatic acid, half and half painted on the membranes, 
or diluted in water, may be used as a gargle ; if there is much heat 
in the throat, use ice-water or compresses of flannels wrung in boil¬ 
ing water, as in croup. Ice kept in the mouth for several hours 
seems to have cured a patient in France in twenty-four hours, 
when the whole inside of the mouth was covered with the mem- 

j 

brane. Smoke tar, by dropping it on a coal in a tobacco pipe and 
swallow the smoke, making it come out of the nostrils. Gargling 
the throat with lemon-juice, every two hours daily, is highly bene¬ 
ficial in loosening the membrane. 


CtfO- 


LADIES’ IIAID 

Can be kept in perfect order and healthy condition by cleanliness 
of the scalp and hair by means of comb and brush, and pure soft 
water, that is, rain or snow or distilled water; the nearest to this 
last is water which has been boiled and allowed to cool. Nothing 
is equal to water in dressing the hair for purposes of cleanliness 
of the scalp; twice a month is sufficient, and if water is notoften- 
er used, -and no other thing—oil, pomatum, grease, or anything 
else .ever named—was ever allowed to touch it, the hair would not 
fall out as it does; it would have enough of its natural oil to keep 
it sufficiently smooth, it would not soil everything it touched, the 
scalp would not be plastered with an almost impervious coating 
of grease, and dust, and perspiration, thus effectually preventing 




372 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR . 


the air from coming to the roots of the hair, to impart to them 
its life-giving virtues, and also to convey away such gases and ema¬ 
nations as are calculated to rot the hair itself, poison the circula¬ 
tion which supplies the bulb of the hair with nourishment, thus 
allowing it to perish for want of nutriment, with the result of 
irremediable baldness, for the root is gone, and hair can never 
grow there again unless the upper skin is removed and a part of 
the scalp is taken from a healthy head and put in its place; in 
this way hair can be made to grow on the baldest pate; this sur¬ 
gical transplanting can be done just as an old tooth can he drawn 
from one jaw and a tooth of the same size taken from another 
person put in its place, and if done deftly by a dentist who un¬ 
derstands his business it will become fixed as the original one, 
with the advantage that it will never ache. The scalp should be 
brushed plentifully with a hard brush, in the direction of the 
hair always, hard enough to redden the scalp a little; this is to 
remove dandruff and stimulate the blood to come to the surface 
to nourish the hair bulb and roots; this should be done by ladies 
night and morning, but never use so hard a brush, or bear so 
much on the scalp as to scratch or bruise or wound it in any 
way; then in dressing the hair use a soft brush, use it patiently, 
as is done in brushing a silk or fur hat; the fur after being crum¬ 
pled with use will not lay even down at first, but will if the 
brushing is continued. The truth is, the human hair is like that 
of a horse, and every groom knows that the more freely and judi¬ 
ciously his horses are brushed, the more glossy and beautiful 
will be their coating. 

Let ladies bear in mind that the use of oils on the hair is an 
utter absurdity, as much so as to oil a carriage horse before tak¬ 
ing a drive to the Central Park. 

CURLY HAIR. • 

The hair sometimes has a natural curl; then be particular to 
curl it always in that direction, and no other. If the hair is 
wet at any time, or damp with perspiration or the humidity of 
the atmosphere, curl it and let it lay in that state. This is a good 
plan in dressing the hair of girls, which should be kept cut short 
until thirteen years of age, and allowed to curl as much as it 
will; if on special occasions it is desired to keep the curls in 
place, nothing is equal to weak solution of isinglass. 


LADIES' HAIR. 


373 


Never twist or knot or strain the hair by plaiting it, or drawing 
it hard in any direction; it is jnst as injurious as it is to pull upon 
a tender plant: it loosens the root, and endangers the life of the 
hair. As it gets long it should, as before stated, be twisted in a 
very loose coil, to lay on the back of the neck, or allowed to fall 
down the back behind, with a loose ribbon around it, just below 
the ears, no tighter than will allow the hair to cover all the space 
between the ears, and as much of the shoulders as possible, as 
then there is no possible strain, and the air, with its life-giving 
influence, has the freest access to it; the great miners of the 
hair of ladies are grease and straining; the great preservators 
are soft water and good brushing. 

Sometimes there is an unnatural dryness of the hair-scalp and 
harshness of the hair, arising from a flaccid atonic state of the 
scalp; then wash it twice a w r eek with a solution of green tea, 
with as much alum or tannin in a cup as would lay on a dime. 

The Eastern nations, China, Japan, and India, have long, black, 
glossy hair. They wash the whole hair and head in cold water, 
then rub in a handful of pea-flour (perhaps any other flour would 
do); this is well rubbed into the hair and scalp for a quarter of 
an hour, a little water being added from time to time until it be¬ 
comes lathered all over; finely powdered borax will answer quite 
as good a purpose. After rubbing this lather into the scalp and 
about the roots well, wash it off with several rinsings of cold 
■water, comb it out very slowly and tenderly, using a very coarse 
comb (horn is the best by all odds); then press a soft dry-cloth 
on the hair to absorb the moisture, and keep at it until it seems 
to take up no more; then run the fingers through the hair to let 
the air get in among it, and also to add to the facilities for drying 
it. Next brush with a hard brush plentifully, then use the soft 
brush. The result will be that the hair will be clean, and will 
be in a condition of silken fineness, without having any oil or 
grease or impurity of any description. This method of treat¬ 
ment gives vigor to the hair and to its growth, and keeps it at its 
own natural color. Such a washing ought to be given to the 
whole hair and scalp of every class and age and sex and condi¬ 
tion, every month. 

But.it should be remembered that “good” hair, beautiful hair, 
is by inheritance, but may be improved by careful and judicious 
handling. 


374 


HAL VS FAMILY DOCTOR 


GLYCERINE HAIR-DRESSING. 

Sometimes it may be desirable to have the hair handsomely 
dressed, as on a wedding occasion or reception. Oil and grease 
came into fashion simply because they keep moist longer than 
water, making a less frequent dressing necessary. But glycerine 
lias become an article of commerce of late years, costs but little, 
and as it evaporates at a less temperature than most other liquids, 
it keeps the hair damp for a long time; and as it is so perfectly 
mild in its nature, not objectionable on account of color, quality, 
or odor, it is incomparable as a dressing for the hair—in fact, is 
next to soft water. Take four ounces of good, thick, pure glyce¬ 
rine, and mix it well with twelve ounces of soft rain, or distilled, 
or rose water; put it in a bottle, shake it w T ell before using it, and 
keep it well stoppered in a cool, dry place. This makes a pint of 
material at a very small cost, and will last for months. It will 
keep for years. 

No hair-dressing should ever be used which contains litharge 
or any other form of lead. It ruins the hair, injures the skin, 
and has brought on paralysis in a great many cases—in fact it is 
poisonous, whether used internally or externally. 

BLACK HAIR-DYE, 

which is not hurtful in any way, is made by getting the juice of 
the covering or hull of walnuts before they fall from the trees, 
while this covering is yet green ; then put in enough of sweet-oil to 
make it thin enough. A little of it applied to the hair night and 
morning will make it black. 

TEA WASH. 

Take three ounces of black tea, pour on a gallon of boiling 
water, strain it so as to keep back all the leaves and tea dust, add 
three ounces of best glycerine, one quart of bay rum, and half an 
ounce of the tincture of cantharides. Let it remain two or three 
days, and rub a tablespoonful of it into the scalp twice a week, 
when the hair is too dry, or is disposed to fall out, or needs to be 
quickened in its growth. These are merits claimed for it, it is 
given with others, at the same time it should be borne in mind that 
the essential point in all cases is to keep the scalp clean and 


LADIES'* HAIR. 


375 


healthy, to keep every possible stain from the hair, and let as much 
air get into it as possible, down to the very roots, and between 
every hair. The statement has been made that hair growing gray 
gradually, owes the change, when premature, to using water which 
has lime in it. Wheat bread has as much lime in proportion; the 
prevention and the remedy in such cases is the avoidance of every 
thing made from grain of any description, to use no bread, but rice, 
sago, and tapioca in its place; to drink no water unless it has been 
distilled, or rain or snow water, these being the products of nature’s 
distillation. 

LOSS OF HAIR, 

when premature, as in the case of most of our daughters, is the 
result of negligence, bad treatment, or want of cleanliness of the 
scalp; hence if, when the hair begins to fall out prematurely, 
proper means were adopted, it might be arrested, and thje growth 
become strong again. Put a tablespoonful of cologne water into 
a pint of common, pure water ; shake it well. Brush the hair in 
the direction of its growth with a stiff brush until the scalp reddens, 
work one-fourth the mixture into the hair and scalp, and all down 
its roots with the ends of the fingers, for these can best rub it in; 
then dry as before; do this thrice a week. 

SUPERFLUOUS HAIR 

can always be got rid of permanently, infallibly, and safely in 
only one way; pull one hair out by the root with a pair of pin¬ 
cers which will not cut it in two as soon as applied; then take 
another hair; if this is done leisurely, until five, ten, or fifteen are 
removed, then wait a few days until the irritation is passed away, 
and repeat the operation. Depilatory powders, pastes, and other 
preparations will not only fail, but most of them do harm, and 
sometimes serious harm. So much has been said about the hair, 
because it is the most beautiful natural ornament a m#n or woman 
possesses; in addition, its uses cannot be safely or healthfully dis¬ 
pensed with; it preserves the scalp from chills; keeps the head 
at a healthful warmth, and is a most important protection against 
sudden changes of temperature. The hair of a woman is said to be 
her “ glory,” and certainly the world over it wins the admiration 
of the sterner sex ; and as for the man, it adds to the manliness of 
his appearance, and is essential to the highest physical beauty. Coal 


376 


BALDS FAMILY DOCTOR 


oil rubbed well twice a day upon a place on the scalp made bald 
by a sore, has been followed in a month or two by a plentiful, and 
even abundant crop of hair. Dandruff in many cases is re-, 
moved very effectually by taking one drachm of carbolic acid, 
four ounces of glycerine, and two drachms of oil of bergamot, mix 
well, rub it thoroughly into the roots of the hair with the ends of 
the fingers, and in a few minutes wash freely with bay rum. Use 
it once a week for some time, and then once a month; it is an ad¬ 
mirable means of keeping the scalp free from accumulation of 
dandruff, to see which on the collars and shoulders of gentlemen’s 
coats and ladies’ apparel excites in every beholder of cultivation 
and refinement most disagreeable suggestions; it is an index of 
being low bred, as unmistakable as a rim of black under the finger¬ 
nails ; or rub into the scalp every morning, with the balls of the 
fingers, two tablespoons of the following: Put one ounce of flow¬ 
ers of sulphur in a quart bottle, nearly fill with water, shake it 
well and let it settle ; use the fluid only. 

The skin of the scalp is very tender, hence the brush used should 
not be very hard or harsh, but stiff enough to part the hair and 
reach down to the scalp so as to loosen the scurf; the hair 
of a lady should be thus brushed at least a quarter of an 
hour night and morning, and when the toilet is made in 
the middle of the day. This is not lost time; the exercise 
is good for the arms, tends to cleanliness and the preven¬ 
tion of headache; let the brush begin at the root of the 
hairs, and be continued to the extreme ends. In combing 
do the same thing, only as soon as the comb leaves the scalp hold 
the hair behind the comb in the hand, so as to be on no strain 
whatever between the hand and the scalp; this is to prevent all 
dragging on the roots of the hair, which is just as injurious to it 
as a similar process would be to a delicate plant. The best hair has 
been ruined by too fast or jerking use of the comb or brush. 

The natural oil of the hair is sufficient usually; but if any oint¬ 
ment or oil or pomade is needed, there is nothing better than 
castor-oil and .^alcohol, named elsewhere. 

A weak solution of isinglass is a good curling preparation, or a‘ 
quarter of an ounce, of Iceland moss, boil in a quart of water, and 
add some spirits to make it keep. 

If the hair is oiled any day, it should be well rubbed with a 
dry flannel at night. The hair ought to be 


LADIES' HAIR. 


377 


SIIAMFOOED 

once a month. Put one teaspoonful of hartshorn in a pint of 
water, put the whole hair in it in such a way that it can undergo 
a washing operation with the fingers; this is to take out all the oil 
with the hartshorn; wash the whole well in tepid water, not 
failing to clip the extreme tips, which are likely to split, which 
will deaden the hair if let alone. 

If the hair is short, as in girls, or boys, or men, a thorough wash¬ 
ing of the whole scalp in cold water every morning would keep every 
hair clean, healthy, and oily ; always being careful to wipe it dry; 
this is a great protection against headaches and colds and catarrhs. 



SKIN AND HAIR. 

1 shows the outermost layer of the skin, called the epidermis or cuticle; it is this which, when rubbed 
or pressed with a shoe, forms corns by thickening. 2 is the second layer, called the rete mucosurn. 
3, the little mountainous ridges, are a collection of nerves, terminating in a cone, and give sensibility 
to the skin. 4 is the corium or deep layer of the skin, or the real true skin, varying in thickness in 
different parts of the body, from the fourth of a line to a line and a half, a line being the twelfth of 
an inch, thickest on the soles and palms, thinnest on the eyelids. 5 are the sweat-glands everywhere 
under the skin which supply the oil to the hair; these little glands send the oil upwards through 
little tubes as seen above. 6 and 7, a hair-gland; at 7 being larger and the tube straighter. 8 points 
to two hairs rising above the scalp. 9 shows two little ducts reaching from the glands and entering 
the side of each hair. 

The hair is really .of a horny material, like the finger-nails, and 
grows like them, being pushed out; the bulb of each hair is em¬ 
bedded in the true skin, reaching down to the fat-glands. It may 
be interesting to notice by the Avay that the silk dress is made of 
a kind of hair; so is the spider’s web, only inconceivably smaller 
and finer than a human hair, for under a spider’s body are six little 












378 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


knobs. When it wants to spin a web, it presses these knobs with 
one of its legs; from each knob one thousand threads come, these 
six thousand strands are twisted into one by the two hind legs of 
the spider, each leg having three claws each; and yet it takes a 
dozen strands of spider web to make one as thick as a hair—that is, 
the original spider’s strand is seventy two thousand times finer 
than a hair from the human head. 

- zcn> - 

THE PULSE. 

Every intelligent person, every parent, should have some general 
idea of the nature and indications of the pulse ; it beats with the 
heart and just as many times as the heart does, and very nearly 
at the same instant of time. The pulse is best felt at the wrist on 
the thumb side, or at the temple, or bend of the foot below the 
ankle, because it comes nearer the surface there, and the bone is 
immediately under it, compelling it to distend the artery in the 
direction of outside. The arteries have pulsations; hence if an 
artery is cut the blood comes out by pulses, by jerks and spirts. 
The veins have no pulsations; if they are cut the blood comes 
out in a steady stream not endangering life; but unless the bleed¬ 
ing of an artery is stopped at once, death follows in a few 
minutes; arterial blood is of a bright red; venous blood of a 
dark red. The pulse beats per minute in 

Infancy .... 110 ManhoQd.. 70 

Childhood.... 90 Old age .. 60 

Youth. SO 

A feverish pulse is quick in proportion as it is ten or fifteen 
above nature. 

Inflammation is indicated by a quick hard pulse, as if a fine 
wire was vibrating under the fingers, while the natural pulse 
feels as if a soft yarn were under the fingers. 

A thready pulse is barely felt; it is always fast, merely vibrates, 
is very weak; it is the pulse of the dying. 

A jerking, quick, variable pulse indicates nervousness. A double 
pulse indicates typhoid symptoms, debility—always dangerous; it 
beats twice very close together, all of it making but one pulse, as 
if the heart was not working together in all its parts. 

Palpitation of the heart should not, as a general thing, be re- 





TEE PULSE. 


379 


.garded as an important symptom, as it is often emotional or ner¬ 
vous ; if it thumps or flutters, let it thump, hut do you go at 
once and think about something else. An over-meal may cause 
it. Quietude of body and diversion of mind is the best remedy; 
sometimes it is instantly arrested by drawing the fullest breath 
possible, retaining it as long as you can. Irregular pulse, one or 
two or three heats, then a stop or slower heats ; pay no attention 
to them, for almost always it means nothing, and if it did you 
can’t help yourself. 

Some persons have inherited a quicker pulse than usual, others 
a slower pulse. Every intelligent person owes it to himself, and 
parents owe it to their children, to ascertain the healthful pulse 
of each one, that should a physician be called he may take it into 
account whether it be slower or faster than natural. 

There are a few general facts which should be known in refer¬ 
ence to the action of the pulse. Midway between breakfast and 
dinner, or in the afternoon, are the best times to determine the 
natural rate, after having been at rest for a quarter of an hour or 
more, for a regular meal excites the pulse ten or fifteen beats, and 
hunger makes it languid. 

The main point in all ordinary ailments is the rapidity, seventy 
beats in a minute being the average standard of health in mid¬ 
dle life; all above that indicates that the heart is excited, and is 
exhausting the vital forces. The quicker any machine runs the 
faster it wears out; so with the body ; in proportion as the heart 
is beating over seventy in a minute, fever is wasting the system. 

The pulse of the consumptive is always fast, and the consump¬ 
tive certainly dies. A pulse of seventy-five indicates fever; if 
it is ninety or a hundred.it is a very high fever. 

If the pulse is simply fast, it is fever; if it is fast and hard, 
beats like the vibration of a hard string tightly drawn, it is inflam¬ 
mation, and there is danger always. The pulse is infallible as an 
index of inflammation in any part of the body; it is immaterial 
where it is, the wrist says it is in the body somewhere, and always 
alarms the physician. It would be really five dollars well laid 
out, if it had to be earned by sewing, for a mother to have the 
family physician to take her to a person who was suffering from 
' any inflammatory disease, and teach her what an inflammatory 
pulse was; then she would be warned in time, or be saved from 
unnecessary alarm, according to the nature of the case. 


380 


IIALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


There are, then, four kinds of pulses with which the intelligent 
reader should be at pains to acquaint himself: 

First. The number of the healthy pulse per minute. 

Second. The fast pulse, measuring the degree of fever. 

Third. The fast, hard pulse, showing the degree of inflamma¬ 
tion. 

Fourth. The quick, indistinct, thready pulse, reaching at last 
to a hundred and thirty and over, or so fast that it cannot he 
counted ; the pulse of death. 

In all disease man begins to die at the extremities; the heart, 
which has been pumping from infancy, at the rate of a hundred 
thousand times a day, begins to grow weary of its labor, and 
works more feebly every hour; it can no longer send the living 
current to the tips of the toes and ends of the fingers; each suc¬ 
cessive beat sends it shorter and shorter of the mark, and carries 
less away from the heart, leaving it and the lungs more and more 
full, and finding that it does not carry out as much at each stroke, 
it endeavors to make it up by working more rapidly, but it is 
suffocating; each beat is now faster, but feebler than its prede¬ 
cessor, so feeble that it sends the living stream barely to the 
lungs, in limited quantities; they, too, receiving so little life, be¬ 
gin to pant for breath, faster, feebler, and still feebler, until the 
last breath, and then the last throb, and life’s work is done, its 
task is ended now, all is literally “ still as death.” 

- ZOK - 

THE TONGUE 

Is, next to the pulse, the best index to the skilful physician of the 
condition of the body; because the skin of it is a continuation of 
that of the bowels and stomach, and its healthful condition 
measures that of the internal organs which we cannot see; for 
example, if the tongue is white, it indicates internal fever; if 
the tongue is coated thickly, so are the bowels and stomach; and 
there is no healthy appetite, if indeed there is any at all. 

If the coat is yellow it shows that the blood is more yellow than 
it ought to be, for the coating is made out of the blood. 

If the blood is yellow it shows that the bile is in it, which 




THE TONGUE. 


3S1 


would not have been the case if the liver was doing its proper 
work, which is to withdraw the bile from the blood; and when it 
ceases to do this it is said to be torpid, does not work, does not 
act, and means must be taken to make it act, or the man dies. It 
is purposely repeated here that there are four successful methods 
of making the liver work: 

1. Nature will do it. 

2. Hygienic means will do it. 

3. Water will do it. 

4. Medicine will do it. 

Nature will cure a man as a pig cures himself—fortunate 
pigs, who never have any doctors’ bills to pay, nor any “ doctors’ 
stuff ” to swallow! In truth, a pig is a practical doctor himself; 
he medicates by example! When he is sick he rests, and keeps 
on resting until it is “ kill or cure ” with him ; and when he feels 
better, gets hungry, he gets up and goes to work in hunting up 
something to eat. 

If the liver does not work, let it alone; let it rest until it does 
feel like going to work, and then it will pretty certainly do so. 

If the liver does not work, it is because it cannot work any 
more than the body can, unless it is unnaturally stimulated by 
some lash, physical or moral. Man constantly forces himself to 
work ; nerves himself up to his task, when really lie knows that 
he ought to rest. Pigs don’t do anything of the kind; pigs have 
no notes in bank, they haven’t any debts to pay. 


HAPPY PIGS. 

Hence when they get sick they can afford to rest. Ah! what 

multitudes of mankind are there who literallv can’t afford to 

«/ 

rest. There are a dozen men in New York any day of the year, 
who would be financially ruined by a “ lost ” day; that is one 
of the penalties of doing business in all our large cities. Nothing 
in all the wide universe is as remorseless as debt. We gather 
around the dying couch ; how greedily do we run to the bedside 
at the slightest whisper or motion or look, to see if we can do 
some little something for him. What would we not give to be 
able to do the slightest service. How reverently do we watch 
and wait for the last intelligible word, to treasure it up for life 


332 


HALL'S FAMILY VO CLOU. 


long ; for the last look, the last feeble pressure of the fingers, the 
last sigh, the last expiring breath ; but 

The clock strikes three, the note is not paid, and the fatal let¬ 
ters 

“ PROTESTED,” 

are written all the same. But go back again ; nature would gene¬ 
rally cure man and beast alike if rest were given, when the liver 
would get up and go about its work “ as if nothing had ever hap¬ 
pened.” 

Hygienic measures will hasten the liver’s resumption of its du¬ 
ties, as air, exercise, and kneading, which articles see. 

Cold and warm water judiciously used according to the intelli¬ 
gent applications of it, after the hydropathic system ; as will also 
the liver pills, or any other medicine acting on the same principles. 

If the tongue is red, especially at the edges, there is internal 
inflammation, the redder the more dangerous, and the physician 
should be always sent for. Suppose all mothers knew this one 
point about the tongue, that bright red edges and tip meant dan¬ 
gerous inflammation, many little children would be saved from a 
premature grave. 

If there are deep cracks in the tongue it means dyspepsia, al¬ 
though all dyspeptics do not have them. 

A black tongue, not made black by something swallowed, and 
sometimes swollen, means death, as it proves that the bowels are 
mortifying. 

A very dry tongue, a “ parched ” tongue, means high fevgr. 

A natural tongue is about the color of the lips and is moist; 
away on the back part it is always more or less coated; in pro¬ 
portion as the coating is thick, and extends towards the tip, the 
man is sick. 

If the tongue is coated and seems “glazed,” the person is very 
sick, and as such a tongue roughens, he is getting better. 

Sometimes the tongue looks very much coated on rising, but if 
after breakfast it is pretty much all removed, it proves that the 
system has been out of order, but is getting better. 

A pale tongue means poor blood, no health. 

A cold tongue is the collapsed state of cholera, and means death. 

Red tongue is always seen in scarlet fever, and inflammatory 
conditions of the stomach and bowels. 


BISMUTH. 


383 


Furred tongue is indigestion. 

Brown or black, typhoid. 

If protruded with difficulty it indicates low fever or apoplexy. 

If always put at one side it indicates paralysis, apoplexy, or sof¬ 
tening of the brain. 

A tremulous tongue indicates indigestion, and often habitual 
drunkenness ; the indigestion implicating the spinal marrow. 

The tongue is too red all over, with little elevated points, in 
scarlet fever. 

It is red and dry in inflammation of the brain, stomach, or 
bowels. 

In typhoid fever there is often a red streak down the middle. 

If the tongue turns pale in the progress of a fever, it means 
that death will follow. 

A shrinking tongue indicates inflammation of the lungs and 
liver. 

Swollen tongue is in nervous diseases and consumption. 




BISMUTH 

Was once supposed to be lead, but in 1520 Agricola discovered that 
it was a metal, white, pulverizable; it is this which forms pearl- 
white to paint the face, and is an ingredient in pewter. With 
nitric acid or aquafortis it forms subnitrate of bismuth, and in 
some forms of chronic diarrhoea and irritated state of the bowels 
it is used for a mechanical influence, sheathing their tender 
surfaces from injuries; it is astringent, absorbs foul gases in the 
intestines, hence is largely used in diarrhoea, dysentery, and va¬ 
rious painful affections of the stomach. Very beneficial in the 
loose bowels of consumption and typhoid fever. Dose from five 
to thirty grains, or a quarter of a small teaspoonful three times a 
day. It is very heavy, and cannot be well taken in water; it 
tastes and looks like powdered chalk ; it is easiest taken between 
layers of boiled rice or softened bread or mush or stirabout. , It 
colors the discharges to blackness and makes them more consis¬ 
tent, showing that it is doing good. 




334 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


ABRASION 

Is the scraping off of the external skin. In ordinary cases, cover 
the part with cotton or soft rag, give it rest, protect it from fric¬ 
tion and violence, keep it warm, and if the person is in good 
health it will be well in a few days, if the bowels act freely every 
twenty-four hours. At the same time the scratch of a pin is an 
abrasion and has many a time caused life-long sufferings, not un- 
frequently death itself, attributed by the common people to the 
poisonous character of,the pin, when in reality it is the poisoned 
condition of the blood. A gentleman of wealth in stepping into 
his carriage one day, missed his footing, the fore part of the leg 
scraped against the sharp edge of the iron step, and took off the 
skin from the shinbone or fore part of the leg. As his constitu¬ 
tion was impaired by long years of liquor drinking, there was very 
little vitality in his system, the wound would not heal, inflamma¬ 
tion set in, and he died. 

The London brewery draymen, as a class, get to drinking seve¬ 
ral quarts of porter or beer every day, and by the time they are 
forty years of age they seldom drink anything else, with the result 
that although they look large and stout and corpulent, there is no 
strength, no endurance, no stamina; their blood is impure, black, 
stagnant, full of poisonous ingredients,, has no life-giving influ¬ 
ences, no power of healing; hence when such persons have the 
“ scratch of a pin ” on the back of the hand, it does not perfectly 
heal for weeks and months and years, sometimes never ; so with 
cuts and bruises on other parts of the body; the. reason is, that the 
blood is so much inflamed by the spirituous, the alcoholic ingre¬ 
dients it contains, a poisonous quality is imparted to it, and in¬ 
stead of sending renovation and life to a wounded part, which it 
would if it were healthy blood, it sends poison and fire and death, 
especially when the wound is on any part of the body where there 
is but little flesh, as on the back of the hand or fore leg. But not 
only in scratches and abrasions, but in all cuts and bruises and 
wounds and contusions the chances of cure diminish in proportion 
as the person is in the habit of using ardent spirits, whether in 
the shape of manufactured whiskey, strong brandy, or beer or ale 
or porter or wine, and in such proportion is it necessary and im- 


ABRASION. 


385 


perative to follow with promptitude and fidelity the directions 
which follow for the treatment of an abrasion, which is literally a 
“ shaving off.” 

But since the slightest abrasion may produce erysipelas, lock¬ 
jaw, and death in any person not in vigorous health, it is safest in 
any case, however slight, to keep the part warm and protected 
from violence, as just named. 

If the abrasion covers a large surface, or is deep, especially in 
the old and young and feeble, from whatever cause, the addition¬ 
al precaution should be used to give the person and part quiet, to 
practise regular and abstemious eating, see under head of “ eat¬ 
ing;” soak and wash the feet well in warm water, so that the 
very large pores in the soles may be kept in vigorous and health¬ 
ful action, so as to give free and speedy exit to any impurities 
which the blood may contain, as also to invite the blood there, and 
to that extent divert it from the abraded part, for this directly 
lessens the inflammation and heat and fever of the part. In ad¬ 
dition the bowels should be made to act freely and fully at least 
once in twenty-four hours, either by the use of castor-oil or salts, 
which see, or mineral waters or enemas, which see. In more de¬ 
cided cases, or where there is tardiness of cure, it is better to take 
some liver medicines to hasten the purification of the blood and 
reduce its quantity. 

If persons cannot remain in the house, or if in the house must 
work, two things are important: protection against friction, rub¬ 
bings, and other violence; and from the cold air, which is said by 
the common people to u poison ” it, which in reality is inflammation 
caused by the cold air, thus the parts become chilled, the reaction of 
chill is fever and inflammation. In ordinary cases use aspreading 
of soft clean cotton, with a bandage over it to keep it in its place, 
or cover it with a piece of gold-beater’s skin, or oiled silk; these 
latter keep out the dust and keep in the warmth, and are less cum¬ 
bersome. 

As a better covering in some cases, as also more convenient 
in parts of the body where a bandage cannot be applied without 
being unsightly or cumbersome, as on the forehead, glycerine or 
collodion may be applied with a soft pencil. . These same things 
are applicable in excoriations and chafings—scratches. 

If a person knows that slight wounds or scratches heal rapidly 
in his case, then he need give only a general attention to these 
25 


386 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


suggestions; on tlie other hand, if he knows that all sores and 
scratches and things of that nature heal very slowly in his case, 
he cannot be too prompt or particular in giving the above sug¬ 
gestions a judicious attention, in proportion as he has a dread of 
lockjaw or erysipelas. 

Put four parts of the yolk of fresh eggs in a mortar, with five 
parts of glycerine, rub them most thoroughly together, and spread 
some over any broken or scalded or abraded surface ; it is a kind 
of varnish, and most effectually excludes the air. If there is 
much pain, expose the part to the smoke of brown sugar on burn¬ 
ing coals, or of burning leather. 


C/7J 


FRUITS, BERRIES, AND MELONS 

Abotustd most and in. greatest perfection in those latitudes where 
their peculiar agencies on the system are most essential to the pre¬ 
servation of human health and life. Wherever miasmas prevail, 
there are most indispensably needed certain qualities, in whatever 
is adapted for the nutrition of the body, which can antagonize mi¬ 
asmatic influences. All know that bilious diseases abound in low, 
flat, moist, luxurious localities, as on river bottoms, along the 
banks of bayous, and on undramed prairies; and these are the 
very places whose neighborhoods produce uncounted millions of 
bushels, spontaneously and in their wild state, of almost every 
berry that can be named, which contains that peculiar acid, so ef¬ 
ficient in its influences on the system as to keep it open, cool 
down its fevers, and enrich its blood. 

The liver, in its agency in purifying the blood from many of its 
waste, useless, and poisonous constituents, is second only to the 
lungs; whatever of these one leaves, the other eliminates. 

A man has bilious fever ; from time immemorial, calomel,'blue 
pills, or other forms of mercury have been considered the sheet- 
anchor of safety, and doubtless will be till time shall be-no more. 
It is because calomel “ acts on the liver,” meaning thereby that in 
some unexplained way, either directly or indirectly, it causes that 




THE HOUR OF DEATH 


387 


organ to do more of its appropriate work, which is to separate, to 
secern from the blood many of its impure qualities, while it is 
passing through it to other parts of the system. At times the 
liver is so full of blood, so congested, that in a sense it cannot “ work 
it up,” and there it accumulates, getting more and more impure, 
more and more full of bile, which, instead of being yellow, is as 
“ black as tar ” in its concentration. This was found to be the 
condition of Daniel Webster’s liver after his death. He was of a 
bilious temperament, and his habits of life were such as, combined 
with the temperament, were well calculated to make him bilious. 
But suppose in this condition a “ good dose of calomel” were 
given a man with ordinary vitality and strength of constitution, 
it would so “ act on the liver,” as commonly expressed, that in 
twelve hours after, the patient would feel himself another man, 
comparatively well. Chemical research has lately ascertained, 
demonstrably, that the acid of fruits, in their natural state, and 
thus eaten, has this self-same effect on the liver; “acts” on it; 
makes it go to work and separate the bile from the blood: and 
thus taking away the yellowness from the skin, the fever from the 
cheek, and the languor of disease from the eye; hence it is that 
in the summer and fall of the year persons who live .mainly on 
fruits and berries and coarse breads, bread made of the whole pro¬ 
ducts of the grain, are exempt from fevers, diarrhoeas, and dysen¬ 
teries, at the very time when whole households who eat meats and 
vegetables three times a day are wasting away with disease. 


c o: 


THE IIOUB OF DEATH, 

In a natural way, comes to more persons in the neighborhood of 
five o’clock in the morning, than at any other of the twenty-four; 
the fewest about the hour of one in the afternoon. 

In the early morning the world is still, the atmosphere heavy 
with the damps of the night, and the body debilitated, often with 




383 


BALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


the long fast from supper-time, with nothing to rouse the spirits 
or the circulation. 

At about one o’clock in the afternoon the air is most generally 
fully dried by the sun, has more life, more oxygen in it, hence is 
more purifying, more invigorating, while the bright daylight itself 
has an elevating, vitalizing tendency. 

These facts should be borne in mind by those who are nurses 
to the sick, for by extra attentions of various kinds, the critical 
hour might pass, and if so, the patient is more liable to live over 
for another twenty-four hours. 

It is said by observant physicians that each seventh year of life 
is critical; which means that every seventh year is liable to be 
fatal; but that if passed over with improved health, it gives a 
reasonably certain lease of another seven years ; for example, the 
most of those who become consumptive do so about the age of 
twenty-one, a year sooner or later, but twenty-one is the period 
when the disease becomes decided in the greatest number of cases. 

About forty-two, the six times seven, is by far the most critical 
time of life in women ; if that is passed healthfully, they have a 
good chance of seeing threescore. 

It will perhaps be found that a larger number of persons die 
within a year or two including sixty-three than at any other spe¬ 
cified time between forty-nine and seventy ; these things suggest 
that increased attention should be given to the health at these criti¬ 
cal periods. 




LIYIXG TOGETHER. 

The art of living together pleasurably is greatly promoted by 
the habitual exchange of the little courtesies of life; they are 
never unimportant, never unacceptable, are always grateful to the 
feelings, and are a constant well-spring of agreeable feelings in 
every household. Shall.brothers and sisters be less careful of the 
feelings of one another than those of a stranger ? And as be¬ 
tween husband and wife, should there be less effort at gentleness 

O' 

of deportment, of suavity of manner, and courtesy of expression 
than is extended to outsiders, who have no special claims, and 




LIVING TOGETHER. 


389 


may never be seen again? Sliame upon any member of any fam¬ 
ily who neglects those affectionate attentions, and those suavities 
of deportment toward the members of the household and even to 
the lowest servant, which cannot fail to elevate the giver, and 
draw from the receiver those willing and spontaneous reciprocities 
which make of family associations a little heaven below. 

Fault-finding is an apple of discord in multitudes of families. 
There are some persons who, from ugliness of temper arising from 
bodily infirmity, or an inherent blight of nature, are forever find¬ 
ing fault, either with something said or done, or omitted to be 
said or done ; if not in the family, then out of it. Somebody or 
something is always going wrong with them; in every remark 
they make there is vinegar and bitterness; their whole nature 
seems to be in a condition of chronic snarl; their objectives are 
of a most sweeping character ; every person is a “ liar,” or “ swind¬ 
ier,”or “ scoundrel,” even if .their short-comings are of the slight¬ 
est character. Such persons are demoralizers of the community 
in which they live ; and of those with whom they reside they are 
a perpetual storm, a tornado, and a curse. This complaining, 
fault-finding trait does not assume these gigantic proportions of 
enormity at once, but always comes by slow degrees and long prac¬ 
tice. Let the reader fear falling into this great condemnation, let 
him be afraid of it, and resolve never to find fault with anybody 
or anything, or characterize any one’s conduct for omission or 
commisson, until he has “ slept on it,” thus giving the clearer 
judgment of a renovated brain an opportunity of more dispas¬ 
sionate exercise. 

Let every person of intelligence, refinement, and culture bear 
in mind that in “ living together ” with others pleasantly, happily, 
it is of essential importance to practise the virtues of uniform 
gentleness, deference, and courtesy, remembering that one of the 
most cardinal points in the promotion of domestic enjoyment, and 
of family happiness, is to cultivate self-sacrifice ; for it is this 
which cherishes love in the heart of the giver, and kindles it in 
those for whom the self-sacrifice is made; or, to frame the princi¬ 
ple into a phrase which all can comprehend, remember, and apply, 
that is the noblest heart in any household which gives to the 
others the first choice, and leaves to others the best places and the 
best things. 


390 


HALL'S FAMLL Y DOCTOR* 


LONGEVITY. 


The following table sliows that men have attained a good old age, 
and there is. no necessary reason why these might not be the 
average a°:es of men and women in our time :— 


Dryden,. 


, 70 

Petrarch,. 


70 

David, King. 


70 

Linngeus,. 


71 

Locke,. 


73 

La Fontaine,. 


74 

Rev. Dr . Wardlow,.. 


75 

Handel,. 


75 

Reaumur,. 


, 75 

Galileo,. 


78 

Swift. 


78 

Roger Bacon,..... .. 


78 

Corneille. 


78 

Marmontel,.. 


79 

Solon,. 


80 

Thucydides,. 


. 80 

Anacreon,.. 


80 

Juvenal,.... 


80 

Kant,. 


, 80 

Pindar,. 


. 80 

Young,. 


, 80 

Willard,. 


80 

Sophocles,. 


80 

Plato. 


, 81 

BufEon,. 


, 81 

Goethe,. 


, 82 

Dr. Chas. Caldwell,. 


. 82 

Claude. 


. 82 

West,. 


. 82 

Franklin,. 


84 

Metastasio,. 


. 84 

Herschel. 


. 84 

Madison. Pres.,. 


. 85 

Newton. 


85 

Voltaire,. 


. 85 

Halley,. 


. 86 

Simeon,. 


00 

Fabius,. 


. 90 

Eli. 


90 

Protagoras,. 


. 90 

Livia,. 


. 90 


Loewenhoeck,. 91 

Cato,. 91 

Hans Sloane,. 93 

Whiston,. 95 

Michael Angelo,.. 9G 

Titian,. 95 

Isocrates,. 98 

Elisha. 100 

Hervelius,. 100 

Fontenelle,. 100 

Zeno,. 100 

Terentia,. 103 

Stender,. 103 

Helen Gray,. 105 

Georgias,. 107 

Thomas Garrick,. 108 

Democritus,. 109 

Joseph,... 110 

Joshua,. 110 

A. Serush,. Ill 

Mittelstedt,.112 

H. Thauper,. 112 

R. Glen,. 115 

Moses, .. 120 

Prastus, King of Poland,. 120 

Sarah,. 127 

Ishmael,. 137 

Effingham, . 144 

Countess of Desmond,. 145 

Drakenberg,. 146 

Jacob. 147 

Thomas Parr,. 153 

Thomas Damme,. 154 

Epimenides,. 157 

Henrv Jenkins,. 169 

John Rovin,. 172 

Abraham,. 175 

Isaac,. 180 

Peter Torten,. 185 

Monga of Kentigen,. 185 



















































































CANCER. 


391 


CANCER 

Rarely attacks persons under forty-five years of age. Women 
are more subject to it than men. It most often attacks the female 
breast, next the lips, the tongue, the stomach, and the neck of the 
womb, sometimes the gum. Its growth is exceedingly slow in the 
beginning, but proceeds with great rapidity in its later stages. In 
the breast it comes with a hard, knotty, uneven feel; this it may 
maintain for many years, but as it is nearer development, sharp, 
lancinating pains strike across it, or from it, as rays from a star. 
They are as instantaneous as the stroke of the lightning. In pro¬ 
cess of time the skin is puckered at the hardened part and begins 
to assume a leaden hue, and then begins to discharge a thin fluid 
substance which irritates and even excoriates the surrounding 
parts. The base of the sore is hard, at the same time it spreads, 
seeming to eat its way along, wider and deeper, throwing out more 
and more the fetid matter, so exceedingly offensive, and so 
different from anything else, that it can never be forgotten. 

When it appears on the lips, or where the skin is thin, it is in 
the form of a hard pimple or lump, which soon becomes an eating, 
running, noisome sore. 

It is well to know that cancers are sometimes developed by 
causes which, had they never been put in operation by the person, 
would never have led to so deplorable a result. For example, there 
is a little sore on the lips, it begins to heal, is almost healed, and 
the scab is picked off, instead of being allowed to drop off. That 
picking irritates, causes a little tearing away from the tender, new- 
formed skin, and often there is a little bleeding. A new sore is 
made which must go through its regular process of healing, to be 
picked at and picked off; by this thwarting of Nature she seems 
to get discouraged, the power of healing is lost; that is cancer, and 
cancer is death. 

It is also developed in the breast in early life thus: girls get to 
know generally that some undefinable thing is going to happen to 
them before the first change of life comes on, and instead of being 
proud of it, as a boy is of his first pair of suspenders, or of his 
first coat-tail, the general feeling is one of shame or shyness, 
leading them to conceal, having had no proper instructions Irom 
mothers. Hence when the bosom begins to develop she not only 


392 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


does not let out her dress, but draws it more closely; this arrests 
the fluids in the glands; they are reabsorbed or congested, the 
glands harden, and there is the lump which forty years later is the 
seat of the fearful cancer. 

Pregnant women generally, at the first time, prefer to conceal 
the coming event; they do not care to have it known that the 
first processes are manifesting themselves which are to end in 
motherhood; at other times the symmetry of form, for appear- 
ance’ sake, leads them to tightening the bosom; not infrequently 
vanity induces it in persons of middle life, the effect being to 
arrest the natural flow of the various fluids, wuth a resulting hard 
lump. Hence the uniform injunction of the best medical men 
in the world, that as soon as gestation is known to have been 
inaugurated, all the clothing should hang from the shoulders until 
after confinement. 

Lumps are formed in the breasts by injudicious handling in 
the nursery; the milk is not drawn with that regularity and com¬ 
pleteness which is essential to the healthy condition of the part, 
it dries up, and there is the foundation of the lump again. 

The same result takes place if the child is weaned too sud¬ 
denly. Turn to the article “Weaning.’/ 

Unlucky blows on the bosom are frequent cause of cancer in 
the breast. Mothers should teach these things to girls before 
they are twelve years old, beginning with the fact that the begin¬ 
nings of womanhood are things to be proud of. 

Cancer is a disease of the blood; hence to cut one out leaves 
the taint behind, to sprout up with more vigor elsewhere, and 
often in more places than one, and in more critical places; al¬ 
ways hastening the sad result. The only thing to be done for 
cancer safely, as far as is yet known, is to keep up the general 
health in every way possible. A condition essential above all 
others is a free and full action of the bowels every day, and so 
much the better if brought about by the use of fruits, berries, 
coarse breads, and vegetables as a diet, with cleanliness, pure 
air, and outdoor exercises. 

But it must be remembered that there is a spurious cancer; it 
seems to be a real one, but it is not. These, having been cured 
by various means, have given rise to a great number of cancer 
cures, some of which are here given, that any sufferer may trv 
them, inasmuch as in any given case it may not be a real cancer. 



CANCER. 


393 


Some of these “lumps” have been gotten rid of thus: take 
pounded ice and salt, half and half, put it into a silk bag, so as 
to make a little pad large enough to cover the lump; lay it on 
the part, with some pressure, twice a day, long enough to freeze 
the part so much as to make the skin very white. Cut the skin 
crosswise, the knife not to enter the tumor. Then 'insert a pre¬ 
paration made of ecpial parts of chloride of zinc, carbolic acid, 
and tannin, to remain five hours, when it becomes very painful, 
and must be removed. Cover with a mild poultice, and within 
a week the parts slough out; the theory being that the ice and 
salt freeze the cancerous part down to the very roots, and the 
other application loosens and destroys utterly, by reaching to the 
utmost end of every fibre of every root; whereas if it had been 
cut out, the knife might not have been extended far enough, and 
left a fibre outside, to spring up into a new cancer. 

An old Spanish woman had the reputation of curing cancers 
by making a salve of the yolk of an egg; mix with it as much 
salt as it will take up. Spread a portion of it on linen or other 
material, and lay it over the spot. This plaster must be renewed 
night and morning, until a cure is effected; the bowels being 
made to act freely every day. 

Salt has been claimed as a cure for consumption. The statis¬ 
tics of this country show that where consumption prevails the 
people suffer most from cancerous affections. Medical men of 
ability have long contended that they were essentially the same 
disease, acting on different tissues with different manifestations, 
yet originating in the same depravity of blood. These things put 
together give color to the idea that a most plentiful use of salt 
would cure both cancer and consumption, the two most incurable, 
hitherto, of all human maladies. A case is given where a man, 
apparently in the advanced stages of consumption, seemed to have 
had such an overpowering appetite for salt meats and salt, that he 
would put a tablespoon or two in each vest pocket every morning; 
pinch by pinch it would be diminished, and by night it was all 
gone. He recovered. But it may not have been consumption, 
any more than the old woman’s cases were real cancer. 

Dr. Fell, an American physician in London, has a reputation 
for curing cancer. lie places a sticking-plaster over the cancer, 
having cut a hole in it large enough to receive the cancer and a . 
rim of healthy skin besides • then a piece of muslin is cut of the 


394 


■HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


size of the opening. This is plastered with the following mix¬ 
ture : equal parts of chloride of zinc, blood-root, and common 
flour; to remain twenty-four hours, when the cancer will appear 
to be a piece of burned leather, and the circular rim of skin out¬ 
side of it is white and parboiled, as if by hot steam. The chief 
ingredient is the zinc, the three being made into a paste with any 
convenient material, or water. 

As this article will be read by women with great interest, very 
many of them cherishing an apprehension of it, further statements 
will be made of its nature as far as ascertained. Cutting out a 
cancer which seemed to be a true one, has been followed by per¬ 
manent recovery. Some cancers dry away by spontaneous degen¬ 
eration, as consumption is sometimes spontaneously cured. Can¬ 
cer is inherited, but also is a result of constitutional causes. Bili¬ 
ous persons, those of a bilious temperament, of a dark skin, are 
liable to cancer, especially if their habits are sedentary, if the 
bowels are habitually torpid, and the passages are usually hard, or 
in little hard lumps o.r balls. 

Persons of the bilious temperament are liable to depression of 
spirits unless they lead active, energetic, exciting lives, and noth¬ 
ing tends more to originate and develop cancer than a desponding 
habit. 

Rokitansky, the most eminent medical writer of the time, gives 
the following as the order of attack of cancer, the first being least 
frequent, the last-named locality being most common :— 


Throat, 

Brain, 

Rectum, 

Tongue, 

Skin, 

Stomach, 

Ovary, 

Bones, 

Breast, 

Testicle, 

Liver, 

Uterus. 

Eye, 

Glands, lymph. 



In proof that consumption and cancer go together, it is found 
that both diseases are more frequent, near the sea, diminishing as 
we go westward. 

Also both diseases are more frequent north, and diminish in 
frequency as we go southward. This statement must be modified 
from the consideration that the census returns and mortuary re¬ 
ports are more exact north and east. The rate of deaths from 
consumption is as follows: 


CANCER 


895 


Going West is in per cent. 

Massachusetts.25 

New York.20 

Ohio....16 

Indiana. 14 

Illinois.11 

Missouri. 9 

Kansas. 8 

Colorado. 8 

Utah.6 

California...14 


Going from West to South per cent. 

Michigan.16 

Indiana...14 

Kentucky. 14 

Tennessee.12 

Alabama.6 


The above statements confirm the fact that the sea and lake 
shore localities favor consumption; the raw damp atmosphere and 
chilly winds give colds, and drive the blood from the skin in¬ 
wards upon the lungs; these same conditions tend to develop 
cancer by their impairing effect on the general health. Practical 
use can be made of the following; 


Table , shelving the percentage of deaths from consumption , as 
compared with the total number of deaths from all causes , in 
each State and Territory : 


Alabama. 6 

Arkansas. 5 

California.14 

Colorado.8 

Connecticut.20 

Dakota.12 

Delaware.26 

District of Columbia....20 

Florida.6 

Georgia. 5 

Illinois.11 

Indiana.14 

Iowa.12 

Kansas. 8 

Kentucky.14 

Louisiana. 8 

Maine.25 

Maryland. .16 

Massachusetts.25 

Michigan...16 

Minnesota.14 

Mississippi. ... 6 


Missouri. 9 

Montana..9 

Nebraska. 9 

New Hampshire.25 

New Jersey.20 

New Mexico. 3 

New York. .20 

North Carolina...8 

Ohio. 16 

Oregon. 12 

Pennsylvania.16 

Rhode Island. ..25 

South Carolina. 5 

Tennessee .12 

Texas. 5 

Utah. 6 

Vermont.25 

Virginia.12 

Washington Territory.16 

West Virginia.16 

Wisconsin.14 


Michigan surrounded by lakes, Delaware on the Atlantic, are 
the most deadly from lung diseases. Minnesota, next to Michigan, 




























































396 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


notwithstanding the contrary reputation given it, is the grave yard 
of consumptives. Consumptives, it would seem, should go away 
from the northern sea-shores and lake situation, and retire to 
inland places, protected from bleak cutting winds; the same re¬ 
marks are applicable to cancer. But after all, both cancer and 
consumption can be indefinitely postponed, as to fatal results, by 
keeping up a high state of general health. 

Some cancer salves are made with great precision; for example, 
green-wood sorrel juice, poured on a pewter plate and allowed to 
evaporate in the sun, its oxalic acid combines with the lead in the 
pewter, and forms a compound which has efficiency in curing some 
sores. 

The cundurango plant obtained from Ecuador has obtained a 
crreat notorietv from the fact that a high official has certified that 
a relative, a ladv, was cured of what seemed to be cancer, byt-ak- 

J y y 

ing this remedv internail v as a tea, or infusion. It mav not have 
been a real cancer; besides, there is a spurious cundurango, between 
these two statements a cancerous person might take the remedy 
hopefully, as prepared in Yew York by men who import the 
plant. Boil the best Turkey figs in new milk; as soon as they are 
quite soft, split one open and apply it as hot as can be borne to 
the cancerous sore; change this poultice night and morning and 
at noon, first washing the p^art well with the milk from the boil¬ 
ing ; night and morning drink half a pint of the same fig-boiled 
milk. 


-Mi 


SUXSTROKE, 

More properly “ neat-stroke," because it takes place in cloudy 
days and under any circumstances of exposure to great heat in a 
debilitated condition of the body, when obliged to walk or work, 
whether that condition results from overwork, from a weakly 
frame, or from intemperate habits ; for it is found that in numer¬ 
ous cases the persons attacked have used intoxicating drinks more 
or less freely. Still, the direct rays of the sun hasten or aggra- 
vate an attack; hence a large green leaf worn in the hat, or 
a moist light muslin or silk handkerchief, very. certainly pre¬ 
vent sunstroke. The great heat and the small amount of oxvgen 




SUNSTROKE 

m 


397 


in the air breathed, seem to cause a chemical change in the con¬ 
dition of the blood, or overheat the body. 

Symptoms. The person falls suddenly, unconscious, as in a 
common fainting fit, but the head is very hot; so, instantaneously 
take the patient to the shade, keep off the crowd, and pour a con¬ 
tinuous stream of cold water on the head, crossways, in every 
direction, so as not to fall on one spot. 

Sunstroke seldom occurs on farms, or in country villages, but 
in cities mostly. In New York, during the summer of 1868, 
eight hundred cases occurred; and during July of 1872 there 
were several hundred deaths. Horses also perished with some¬ 
thing similar. 

If the patient is restless a quarter of a grain of morphia in¬ 
jected under the skin seems to have restored some persons; but 
in all cases let the person be placed in a sitting position and have 
cold water poured on the head, or a cushion made of equal parts 
of salt and pounded ice; give an injection as soon as possible, 
and rub spirits of hartshorn on the upper lip; if the salts are 
held too close to the nose and the patient is insensible, great 
injury may be done to the nerves of smell. Mustard plasters 
may be applied to the spine and stomach alternately. 

Some are quiet, insensible; others restless, furious, or depressed; 
as the breathing becomes more noisy the case is increasingly 
desperate. 

If the skin is cool, it is not sunstroke ; it is always dry and hot 
in this case, and the heat sometimes increases after death, and 
the body begins to decay at once, while the heart seems as dry 
and hard almost as a piece of wood. 

If you find a person on the pavement insensible lay your hand 
on the skin of his bosom, and if it is cool lay him down horizon¬ 
tally in the nearest shady place; if the skin is dry and hot keep 
his head up as if sitting in a chair, dash on cold water by the 
bucketful; if you can strip off his clothing the better, or take 
him to a pump and pump the water over him continuously until 
he is perfectly sensible and the skin is of a natural temperature; 
but a substitute is a cushion of ice and salt on his head, if it can 
be had; if not, have several folds of cotton or linen and keep 
them wet with cold water, for it is the brain which suffers most 
from the great heat; pouring water is best. The Egyptians pour 
salt water over the head and ears. 


393 


HALL'S FAMILY I) OCT OH 


SUMMER-COMPLAINT 

Is a too frequent action of the bowels of teething children. Every 
mother ought to know what is the healthful frequency and ap¬ 
pearance of the bowel discharges; then she can be on her guard 
against the approach of disease. At first it is better that the in¬ 
fant should have three or four passages every twenty-four hours, 
yellowish and of the consistence of thin mustard, without any 
sour or fetid smell; no white curdy matter, no lumps, no pain, 
no wind; in a few T weeks the color is darker and the consistence 
greater; they should never be less than tv r o daily, the first year. 
If during any day there has been but one passage since daylight, 
give before bedtime a teaspoonful of castor-oil in a tablespoonful 
of warm milk, and repeat next morning and noon and night, un¬ 
til two passages are secured for each twenty-four hours; this sim¬ 
ple precaution would prevent much infantile sickness, and save 
many a little darling’s life,—during teething it is of infinite im¬ 
portance, for summer-complaint is almost always preceded by 
costiveness, to prevent which use the following: one ounce of 
castor-oil, two drachms of calcined magnesia, three drachms- of 
loaf sugar, two drops of oil of anise, mix it well, and give one tea¬ 
spoonful thrice a day, or often enough during teething to keep up 
two actions of the bowels every twenty-four hours ; or one or two 
teaspoonfuls of manna in a little warm milk. But castor-oil is 
the best stand-by, and it is better to learn its uses, and rely wholly 
on it. In ordinary cases of loose bowels of infants feed more en¬ 
tirely on boiled milk, with sago, tapioca, or boiled rice. If there 
is wind and griping, and the infant takes hold of the breast eager¬ 
ly, and yet it is not satisfied, and is pale and thin, the milk or 
food is not suitable, and the only remedy is healthy milk. 

If, after nursing, the milk is thrown up unchanged, and the in¬ 
fant is disposed to play, it has had too much; feed it less often, 
and at regular hours, on no account between ; this will generally 
overcome looseness of bowels, especially if the diet is made to con¬ 
sist of the articles of food named. 

Sometimes teething children with irritated gums and looseness 
have been cured in an almost marvellous manner by being al¬ 
lowed to chew a piece of the rind of boiled ham, to which some 


BUMATEH- COMPLAINT. 


399 


of tlie fat adheres ; give a large piece, so that it cannot be swab 
lowed; and safer still to run a strong thread through it and tie 
the other end to the child’s wrist; this will certainly cure in very 
many cases; sometimes the little sufferer is so greedy for it as 
not to allow its being taken awav. 

The chief signs of summer-complaint in children are vomiting 
and diarrhoea ; the discharges from the bowels are usually color- 
less, thin, greenish, without odor, with shreds of mucous coming 
away without effort, or are squirted out; sometimes there is pain 
and griping and straining; there is a whining, plaintive cry, 
restlessness, a drawing up and stretching out of the limbs, with 
languor, emaciation; the discharges look like the washings of 
meat; and stupor or convulsions follow. 

Ilomoeopathy relies on aconite when there is fever and thirst; 
arsenicum, if there is great weakness ; ipecac, if the stools seem 
fermented ; chamomilla, if there is colic or griping ; veratrum, if 
great purging and vomiting; secale, if face is pale and eyes 
sunken ; mercurius, if stools are slimy and bloody; croton tig- 
lium, if stools come with a gush; belladonna, if face is hushed ; 
sulphur, if stools are white and watery; opium and china in des¬ 
perate cases. Give the mildest food—milk diluted, oatmeal gruel. 
Keep the whole body warm, the feet and hands particularly. 

Hydropathy gives cool water injections; abdominal compresses 
when there is fever and heat; if the evacuations are bloody give 
cold-water injections, as often as the discharges occur; give pure 
cold water to drink; if the case is protracted, give tepid sitz- 
batlis, and spend a good deal of the time in rubbing the whole 
back with the hands, eating mainly rice, mush, sago, with a little 
sugar or boiled milk. 

Allopaths prefer calomel and magnesia, or calomel and chalk. 
Two grains of calomel, twenty grains of bicarbonate of soda, 
twelve grains of ginger powder—make into ten doses, and give 
one dose three times a day, or a quarter of a liver-pill night and 
morning, until the discharges thicken and are not oftener than two 
or three times' a day, eating boiled rice, sago, or tapioca. 

In many cases, the loose bowels of infants and children are 
corrected by eating ice-cream—taking nothing else for nutriment 
or drink but a little boiled rice, it acts by cooling that inflamma¬ 
tory condition which causes the looseness, as lumps of ice swal¬ 
lowed often cure dysentery in adults. 


400 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


FIRE ESCAPE. 

If you wake up and find the room on fire or full of smoke, fall 
on your face and crawl towards the door or window, for the smoke 
is least dense on the floor and the flame less severe. 

If you have to pass through smoke and flame, as in carrying a 
person out, throw a silk handkerchief over your head to fall down 
over the face ; if none at hand, use muslin or linen, or tear part 
of a sheet or pillow-case off. If neither can be dampened, do not 
use them. If there is a 


CHIMNEY ON FIRE 

throw some brimstone on the coals, or throw on a peck of salt; or 
close every door and window, dip a sheet or blanket or carpet in 
water and hold it close over the fireplace. 

Many persons are burned up for want of presence of mind, 
most likely to happen if waked suddenly out of a sound sleep. 

Horses are thus so confused sometimes that they cannot be in- 

«/ 

duced to come out of the burning stable ; but many times it can 
be done if the bridle and saddle are put on them ; this diverts 
their minds and gives them a chance to think, and they leave the 
stable as a kind of habit. 

It is the same sometimes with a balky horse. * Put some salt to 
his nose, or a handful of mud, or tie a string tightly around his ear. 
anything to divert his mind, and he moves on. So with a stupid 
man in a fire : divert the mind from the sense of excessive dan¬ 
ger, and thus give him a chance to have his wits about him. 

The first thing in a fire in house or on boat or shipboard, is to 
stand still, say nothing, and think a minute; time immensely 
valuable will be saved by it. Cast your eye around and take in 
the situation. Hon t go with the crowd, necessarily. Is ever 
jump from a window or ship until the very last moment. If you 
find you have to go through flame or smoke, get if possible a blan¬ 
ket or carpet, or any woollen thing, and wrap it around you; if you 
can wet them, the better. Instead of jumping from any height, 
make a rope of sheets and blankets, or old trousers, or anything 
else; draw the bedstead to the window, tie one end to the post, 
the other around your body under your arms; then take hold at a 


BAD BREATH. 


401 


part near the bed-post, and let yourself down, provided you have 
ascertained certainly that there is no chance to go down-stairs. 
But don’t go up-stairs, unless there are 1 louses adjoining ; for then 
your leap would he from a higher point. 

If the clothing takes fire lie down instantly ; for flames always 
would go upward, and would burn your face and would he breathed 
into the throat and lungs. The instinct is always to run, which 
makes a draught and increases the flame. Lie down then on the 
instant and roll over and over; or, better, take the corner of the 
carpet firmly in your hands and roll over, bringing the carpet with 
you; or blanket or overcoat, or any woollen thing, for then it 
would not catch on fire very easily. 

- C£K> -- 

BAD BEE ATI! 

Sometimes results from disordered gums and teeth, which ought 
to be attended to by a dentist; but almost always the cause is 
in a bad digestion, constipation, or other form of disease which 
corrupts the blood. The better the health, the less offensive the 
breath is. But it must be remembered that no breath is pure 
comma* out of the lungs, because the air goes into them pure and 
fresh ; it is the oxygen in it which gives it its purity and freshness ; 
but when it gets into the lungs all that oxygen remains there, has 
been absorbed into the blood, and its place is taken by the waste 
and impure particles of the body, the carbonic acid gas, which 
has no life or freshness in it. Hence, everyone’s breath is more 
or less offensive, but that of some is so much so that it is observed 
almost as soon as they enter the room, or come within several feet 
of you. Some are conscious of this, and endeavor to rectify it by 
using various drops and drugs ; but it is only a seeming correction ; 
for the bad breath is there, with, the addition of the overpowering 
drug, making the air doubly loss pure. Take two ounces each uf 
catechu or other gum, white sugar and orris root, made into a 
paste, with peppermint or other perfume, and carry a bit of it m 
the mouth. This is good for a specific occasion. The better plan 
is to eradicate the trouble, not cover it over, by making efforts to 
secure a higher state of general health. 

26 




402 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


BILIOUSNESS 

Means that the bile, which in reality is the waste of the system, 
the washings out of its used and useless particles, has not been sep¬ 
arated from the blood, and remains in it, keeps it dark, thick, 
impure, poisonous, and unfit to carry on the life processes; this 
blood, being thick and heavy, is sluggish, does not pass along the 
blood-vessels freely, but clogs them, dams them up, becomes im¬ 
pacted in them, congested; this congestion making itself felt most 
in those parts of the system which have been weakened, either by 
accident, disease, or hereditarily. 

It is the business of the liver to withdraw from the blood those 
useless particles, which, being mixed together, make what is called 
bile; these particles are naturally conveyed from the liver into 
the gall-bladder, out of which it passes, drop by drop, into the top 
or beginning of the bowels, near the point where the food passes 
from the stomach into this same top of the bowels, and is especially 
active after meals. It is a strikingly, beautiful exhibition of the 
economy of nature, that this bile, which is perfectly useless to the 
body, is waste matter, is made to have a purgative effect on the 
bowels, stimulates them to pass from them the refuse of food 
which contains no nutriment. The Creator could as easily have 
added another apparatus to the machinery of man which would 
have had a specific effect, the same effect as the bile has; but that 
would have made the machine more complicated ; and lie pre¬ 
ferred to make nothingness useful; lie preferred to order the 
adapttinosso that a useless thing should do a useful work, a work 
absolutely necessary to the well-being and safety of the body ; for 
we all know that if the bowels cease ' to act, we certainly die; 
this is of a piece with the divine operation in the moral world ; 
worthless men, wicked men, are made use of to forward his great 
purposes, as clearly expressed in the Holy Record, “ making the 
wrath of man to praise Him.” 

The effect of this presence of bile in the blood, of this conges¬ 
tion, compaction, is to clog up the whole machinery of the body, 
like a clock that is so dirty it scarcely runs at all; the limbs don’t 
work, and the man feels indisposed to do anything; the brain does 
not work, and the bilious man can’t think to advantage ; his head is 


BILIOUSNESS. 


403 


heavy, his eyes are dull, there is no life, no animation, no appetite; 
and instead, a universal feeling off discomfort; the feet are cold, 
the head aches, the bowels costive; in short, the whole mental, 
moral, and physical nature is in a state of demoralization. Now 
for the remedy :— 

First, cut off the supply of blood, for there is too much in the 
body already, and as the blood is made out of the food eaten, if 
nothing is eaten for a day or two half the work is done, and even¬ 
tually the whole, by continuing to eat but little, thrice a day for 
a short time, until the symptoms have disappeared. This is the 
doctors’ method. 

Another is, stimulate the liver; make it work, by taking such 
things as are known to “ act ” on the liver; we don’t know why 
they should act on the liver, or how, but we know they do do it. 
One thing acts on the brain, as \yhiskey; another acts on the stom¬ 
ach, as tartar emetic; a third acts on the bowels, as a dose of 
salts ; so there are medicines which “ act on the liver this is the 
quickest way, and the laziest way, and the least self-denying way 
of getting rid of biliousness ; but it is not the best way; it is the 
worst way. So no information will be given here as to what 
medicines would best act on the liver; for then, when a man be¬ 
came bilious, he would take a dose of physic, and in a short time 
he would be all the time dosing. Besides, after a while all reme¬ 
dies begin to lose their legitimate effect, and either become use¬ 
less in any quantity, or must be taken in large quantities, so large 
sometimes as to become poisonous and fatal. 

There are, however, two things which we can take for bilious¬ 
ness, and either of them will cure in all curable cases; but they 
won’t be taken; lienee no harm will result from imparting infor¬ 
mation. 

Blood, like many other liquids, is thinned by being warmed; 
hence warm up the blood. Nature teaches this, for bilious per¬ 
sons are very chilly. One way is to 

TAKE A SWEAT, 

a good old-fashioned sweat, by getting into bed with hot bricks 
to the feet, and bottles of hot water under the arms,-and a quart 
or two of hot catnip tea, or any other kind of tea, although hot 
water will do quite as much good, only it is not so pleasant to 


404: 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


take ; ginger tea, red pepper tea, all have their virtues, but the 
most virtue is in the heat of the fluid swallowed; then have your¬ 
self tucked in all around in a feather bed, so as to have the sweat 
roll out of you in great big wholesome drops for an hour or two; 
repeat this daily until well; eating in the mean while bread, fruit, 
soups witli bread crust in them; this treatment not only renders 
the blood more fluid, so that it will circulate more easily, but it 
diminishes the bulk of the blood, the weight of it, for the sweat 
comes out of the blood, being its more watery particles. But 
after a ci sweat” the person should cool off slowly, gradually, in 
the course of an hour. 

But there is another plan and a better : “ take exercise.” The 
best is steady work in the open air, as in ploughing, chopping 
wood, splitting rails, threshing grain, etc., but if you are so unfor¬ 
tunate as to have nothing to do, no useful work to perform, row 
a boat, or take a steady walk of an hour or two's duration ; a walk 
with a pleasurable result at the end of it; a walk involving such 
physical activity as to cause a gentle and general perspiration, 
and such mental or moral energy as to cause self-forgetfulness, 
and an entire absorption in the thing in hand. This interested, 
pleasurable exercise not only does all the good of the sweating 
operation, but has an additional power in diminishing the quan¬ 
tity of the blood, in working the waste particles out of the system, 
by that friction of the multitude of muscles which are employed 
in walking. If, in addition to the exercise of walking, there are 
brought into requisition various bendings and twistings of the 
body, all these have the effect to stimulate the liver, by pressing 
upon it, like pressing water out of a sponge ; because it is a large, 
soft body, weighing several pounds, at the left side, above the 
lower edge of the ribs. 

Hence it is that persons, even of the bilious temperament, who 
are on their feet for a great part of daylight, stooping down, 
straightening up, pushing, pulling, and lifting, are seldom trou¬ 
bled with “ biliousness,” unless they take cold. There are many 
ladies in Xew 1 ork who keep off biliousness, or get rid of it when 
an accidental cold brings it on, or close confinement to the house 
for several days, by taking an active walk of an hour or more 
every day, in marketing, shopping, calling upon friends, or making 
visits of charity and good-will to the sick and suffering and unfor¬ 
tunate. Who does not see the wonderful wisdom and beneficence 









DIGESTIBILITY OF FOOD. 


407 


in that column; thus,sweet apples in the first column are digested 
within two hours, and so is rice; mutton requires nearly double 
the time. 

When it is said that an article is digested easily, it is meant that 
the juices of the stomach soonest dissolve it, soonest melt it up, 
pass it out, fit to he made into good blood as soon as it gets into 
the heart, and thence passes into the lungs; and here the subject 
which most naturally presents itself for consideration is 

DYSPEPSIA, 

which means literally “ hard to digest.” Some prefer the name 
of “ indigestion,” but that is not literally true, for it means no di¬ 
gestion at all or without digestion, cannot be digested, which is 
not the idea, to be conveyed; for an article may be taken into the 
stomach which could not be digested in three hours, but it might 
be in four or five; but if it ought to have been digested in three 
and was not until five, thus requiring two hours extra work of the 
stomach, it was “ hard ” to digest, but was not indigestible, hence 
the Greek word dyspepsia is more truthful than the Latin name 
indigestion. Dyspepsia in the United States is a national disease ; 
it almost seems that every third person is more or less troubled 
with dyspepsia; it is a rare disease, comparatively, in England 
and on the Continent; it arises from improper eating in one of 
three ways: 

Eating too fast. 

Eating too often. 

Eating too much. 

Medicine cannot cure dyspepsia; it can only be remedied by 
adapting, the food to the strength of the stomach, by which is 
meant the solvent powers of that liquid which accumulates in 
the stomach for the purpose of dissolving the food preparatory 
to its being converted into blood. The idea is better compre¬ 
hended by comparing a dyspeptic stomach to a faithful maid¬ 
servant who is just recovering from a long sickness; she is will¬ 
ing to work and anxious to please you. If you give liei, in liei 
weak state, a small amount of work to do, she will do it, and will 
do it well; if you give her a great deal to do, she will try to do 
it all, and in the effort may go through it, but none of it is v\ell 
done. The dyspeptic stomach will digest a small amount of food 


408 


HALL'S FAMILY HOLT OF. 


'well, and make good blood out of it; but if a large amount is 
taken into it, it is dissolved, but not perfectly dissolved; it makes 
blood, but not good blood ; and it, going to the lieart, and being 
there mixed with the other blood of the body, is not only not 
pure blood itself, but renders impure and imperfect the whole 
mass of blood in the system; hence it is that as the blood goes 
to every part of the body, being bad, unnatural, it is capable of 
causing, unnatural feelings in any and every pin-point in the 
human frame; hence dyspeptics sometimes truthfully express 
themselves as being miserable all over, although, as a general 
rule, the misery congregates itself at one point, most generally 
at the stomach at first; but as the blood becomes more and more 
disordered it begins to affect the nerves; and since the nerves go 
everywhere, and are fed by the blood, the blood being its natural 
aliment, they become disordered and complain. The nerves are 
impairs generally, in corresponding sides. Sometimes they com¬ 
plain on one side, then change to another; when there is a pain 
at one spot, there may be one on the other side of the body at 
a corresponding spot, alternating. Sometimes these pains spread 
upwards from the stomach, and develop themselves on the sides, 
about the ribs and chest, causing persons to apprehend approach¬ 
ing consumption. The experienced physician always feels re¬ 
lieved when persons having cough, or some throat trouble, begin 
to complain of. pains in the sides of the chest, under the ribs on 
either side or both sides, or any pains whatever which are chang¬ 
ing, especially to corresponding places on the other side of the 
body. Such pains are neuralgic, depend upon a bad condition 
of the blood, arising from imperfect digestion, from 

DYSPEPSIA, 

and so far from such pains threatening consumption, they are 
proof that the stomach is the ailing part, being actually a protec¬ 
tion against consumption ; these very -pains in the chest and side 
are favorable, for being neuralgic and of dyspeptic origin, they 
tend to draw away disease from the lungs, and in that direction 
are a positive benefit. \ 

It was not meant to say that errors in eating were the only 
causes of dyspepsia; there is a nervous dyspepsia, or dyspeptic 
symptoms arising from a disordered condition of the nervous 


DIGESTIBILITY OF FOOD. 


400 


system ; persons sometimes become* dyspeptic for the want of suf¬ 
ficient food, from want of nourishment; not a few have dieted 
themselves into dyspepsia, for knowing that eating too much has 
given dyspepsia, they thought that safety consisted in eating, the 
smallest amount possible, forgetting that all strength to every part 
of the body comes from the food eaten, and if the stomach "itself 
is not nourished, it will get so weak after a while as not to be able 
to digest anything, and. the man dies; persons who have been 
starved on wrecks at sea, get in eight or ten* days to have such 
weak stomachs, that they cannot take more than a teaspoonful at a 
time of the very lightest food; of all others, a dyspeptic needs nour¬ 
ishing food; starvation will kill him. 

Sometimes persons are made dyspeptic by too close mental ap¬ 
plication ; they sit down to study immediately after a hearty meal; 
do this daily, habitually, for weeks and months together, with the 
result that the nervous energy which ought to go to the stomach 
to aid in digesting the food is forced to the brain, to be expended 
there, with the inevitable result that the food is not well worked 
up, the strength of it is not withdrawn, the body every day be¬ 
comes weaker, the stomach has its own share of weakness, and 
there is the 

students’ dyspepsia. 

Debility of the stomach, inability to convert the food into 
healthful nourishment, is the essence of dyspepsia; the stomach 
juices, whose office it is to dissolve the food, are either deficient 
in strength or quantity; in either case the effect is the same. 

Vinegar is more allied to the gastric juice in its nature than 
any other liquid known; but if diluted with water or any other 
liquid, it is less strong, less fit for its appropriate purposes ; hence 
dyspeptic persons should take little or no liquids at meals. 

If the stomach is too weak to digest much food, then it follows 
that the dyspeptic should eat but little at a time. 

If the stomach is weak, a little work wearies it; hence it must 
have rest; hence dyspeptics should not eat often, there should be 
a considerable interval between meals, except in peculiar cases; 
but as it is known that it requires about five hours to digest an 
ordinary meal, and to pass it out of the stomach, it follows that 
a dyspeptic.should not eat at shorter intervals than five hours in 
the daytime or three times in twenty-four hours, especially as it 


410 


BALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


has been noticed by the naked eye, through a hole in the stomach, 
by Dr. Beaumont, that if more food was eaten in an hour or two 
after a regular meal, the stomach, in a sense, ceased to digest what 
was there before, until the last food taken in was brought to the 
condition of what was there before, thus continuing the work of 
the stomach that much longer. 

The finer food is divided before swallowing, the more speedily 
is it dissolved; as the smaller bits of ice are, the more rapidly do 
they disappear; they, like the food, being dissolved from without 
inwards; hence food should be chewed well or cut up in bits as 
small as a pea; to chew it well requires time, hence the dyspeptic 
and those who wish to avoid dyspepsia should chew very slowly, 
and take good care of their teeth. 

THE STOMACH. 

1, Entrance to the stom¬ 
ach, called the cardiac orifice 
because near the heart; at 
this point the food enters the 
stomach from the oesophagus, 
popularly 
throat. 3 

fice, or gate, which opens to 
let the food pass out of the 
stomach after it has been sufficiently digested. There seems, with 
our present knowledge, to be a human rationality in the action of 
this curious part of the body ; if the food is not in a proper state 
to be passed this gate does not open, and the particle is sent back 
to go another and another round ; but after a while, if it still pre¬ 
sents itself, it is allowed to pass along, although wholly unsof¬ 
tened, as much as to say, “ It is of no use to keep you in here any 
longer; pass on.” This is why hard substances, pieces of coin and 
other things, are voided ; at other times undigested articles of food 
have been vomited after having remained in the stomach ten or 

o 

fifteen hours. 

4 Is the first part of the intestines called the duodenum, 
meaning twelve, the Homans giving it that name because it was 
about twelve finger-breadths long; then comes the “ caecum,” 
meaning blind or closed at one end, like the bottom of a bag; 

O ' 0 7 


understood as the 
is the pyloric ori- 











DIGESTIBILITY OF FOOD. 


411 


next tlie colon, which, is the longest intestine, ending in the rec¬ 
tum, at the bottom of the body, the exit of which is called the anus, 
which is kept closed by muscular bands acting very much like the 
string of a reticule, to keep the contents in until the time comes 
for passing them outwards. This operation is called by phy¬ 
sicians “ defecation,” a word which ought to come in common use, 
as it would displace the names of water-closet, privy, necessary, 
with two or three other words to be attached to them before the 
full meaning is expressed. The stomach lies across the body in 
a horizontal position. It will be seen that if a person lies on his 
right side, for example, in going to sleep, the contents of the sto¬ 
mach pass out of it as water passes out of a bottle when turned 
upside down; if on the left side, then it has to be lifted as a buck¬ 
et is lifted out of a well, requiring more stomach power. While, 
therefore, it is better to go to sleep lying on the right side, it is 
not advisable to lie down on that side always or all night; better 
let instinct take care of the position after having gone to sleep. 

It will be seen by the cut that the stomach has several muscles 
to work in various directions, the object of which is to keep 
the food in motion all the time, as we keep anything in motion 
with a spoon in a glass when we wish it to be dissolved. If 
you attempt to wink your eye more rapidly than usual it gets 
tired out in a minute. This shows that it requires strength to 
wink the eye, and so to move any other muscle of the body. This 
strength comes from the nerves. If the body is tired or weak 
there is very little nervous power for it or any part of it; hence, if 
persons eat when they are very tired, there is but little strength 
in the nerves which move the muscles of the stomach, hence the 
food is not digested. 

Hence, also, as stated before, if all the nervous power goes to 
the brain of a student soon after he has eaten, the muscles of 
the stomach lack their proper supply of nervous power, and the 
food is not digested. 

For the same reason it is very imprudent, especially for feeble 
persons, to eat when very tired, because the muscles of the stomach, 
are weak in proportion to the other parts of the body. Persons 
have been thrown into convulsions by eating when greatly debili¬ 
tated. 

Working people and others, on returning from a ride or an ex¬ 
cursion, often enter the house very ravenous and very tired; they 


412 


nALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


can scarcely wait until the food lias been placed on the table. 
Hence it is a good plan to take a bowl of hot soup at the begin¬ 
ning of dinner, the heat stimulates the stomach to action, while 
the small amount of nutriment in it requires but little stomach- 
power. If much tired and the meal must be eaten, a person will 
be greatly revived by prefacing it with a cup of hot tea, and will 
be otherwise benefited thereby. This tea will be absorbed rapid¬ 
ly without diluting the gastric juice, but, if solid food is taken, 
any liquid causes a hurtful dilution. 

IIOW MUCH TO EAT, 

.is a question proposed by every dyspeptic with a great deal of in¬ 
terest, because, if he eats much of anything it causes discomfort; 
that discomfort is proof that it is not digested. At the same time 
his appetite may be ravenous, he feels as if he could never eat 
enough, and even after he has eaten he soon gets hungry. The 
reason is, that but little nutriment is extracted from what is eaten. 
There is not power to-withdraw it. Instinct really seems to think 
in this case; thinks that the body wants more food when it really 
wants more nutriment; there is food enough in the stomach 
already, but it is not extracted in consequence of want of stomach- 
power. Thus it is that all dyspeptics eat many times too much. It 
is the quantity which injures more than the quality; although in the 
cure of dyspepsia attention must be paid to quality, two things being 
requisite : easiness of digestion and nutritiousness; not a concentrat¬ 
ed nutritiousness, there must be bulk as well as nourishment. 

ISTo medicine has cured dyspepsia, nor ever can. No physician 
can ever cure a dyspeptic, he must cure himself. 

No one man who has had dyspepsia and is now well, can cure 
any other man who has dyspepsia by teaching him how he recov¬ 
ered, for no one man is a safe guide for any other; because the 
symptoms, the constitutions, and the surrounding circumstances of 
any two dyspeptics are never the same; eacli man must be a rule 
for himself, must observe for himself, and act accordingly. . 

All must eat regularly three times a day, nothing between 
meals, and very slowly, of well-divided food, not in a tired condi¬ 
tion of body, not concentrated food, nor poor, unnourishing food; 
these points have already been discussed, with some general princi¬ 
ples as to quality and quantity. As dyspeptics are babies and 
have very little common-sense about eating, they must be encour- 


413 


DIGESTIBILITY OF FOOD . 

aged and helped along, especially as to their great weak point, eat¬ 
ing too much. The first step is to diminish the variety of the food 
at any one meal; • not that there is unliealthiness in variety, for, 
as elsewhere stated, half a pound of food made up of a dozen 
different articles would he as easily digested as half a pound 
made up of only three kinds, equally digestible; the point is, that 
variety tempts the appetite, and it is tempted too much already; 
the dyspeptic always wants to eat more than is good for him. A 
man who sits down to a dinner of bread and butter, roast beef 
and boiled potatoes, will eat until he is satisfied, until he feels 
that he wants no more; but the weight of it will be perhaps a 
third less than if, in addition, he had tomatoes and cauliflower and 
egg plant and delicious pastry, ending with fruits and ice-cream 
or champagne. Ilence it is abundantly easier to avoid excess in 
eating, to have only three items of food on the table at any one 
meal. The quantity must be determined by systematic experi¬ 
ment and observation. You eat so much to-day; if there is the 
slightest unpleasant sensation in any part of the body, any sensa¬ 
tion which uniformly follows a meal, unpleasantly attracting 
attention, then you have eaten too much; at the next correspond¬ 
ing meal diminish the amount a sixth, and keep on diminish¬ 
ing the amount, bravely, determinedly, until no discomfort is 
observed ; then you are half cured, because you have only to per¬ 
sist in taking this amount for a few days, when you will find that 
you not only can take a little more, but that you are not as hun¬ 
gry all the time as you used to be, and that you are a little strong¬ 
er and have more cheerful spirits. This is the only rational foun¬ 
dation for the cure of dyspepsia. It will meet every case and will 
cure every curable case, other things being equal. 

The cure will be greatly facilitated and expedited by attending 
to several other things. 

First. Strict personal cleanliness. 

Second. Several hours should be spent every day in out-door 
activities, interesting, agreeable, profitable. 

Third. Regular hours of sleep and plenty of it. 

Fourth. Be busy, if anything a little pushed all the time; this 
gives no leisure for desponding thoughts and depressing influ¬ 
ences, prevents the mind from dwelling on contemptible tiifles, 
and senseless exaggerations of the many disagreeable things which 
come up, more or less, every day. 


414 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


Fifth. Take special pains to cultivate a lively, cheerful, gen¬ 
erous, and lofty frame of mind. This will be a most wonderful 
help towards a speedy cure. 

AVOIDABLE THINGS. 

Avoid cold feet. 

Avoid costive bowels. 

Avoid cooling off too soon, after all forms of exercise. 

Avoid fatigue; always stop before you are much tired. 

Avoid chilliness. 

Avoid all tonics, stimulants, spirits, bitters, tobacco, or any 
other excitant. 

Avoid eating before the time comes, merely to quiet the crav¬ 
ing or gnawing or goneness. 

Avoid fats, sugars, sweet milk, eggs, and coffee; you may 
favor yourself greatly by selecting your food. It might be well 
to begin on the “Special Fruit Diet,” elsewhere spoken of. At 
all events you are safe in beginning with roasted beef or mutton, 
lean; cracked wheat, or wlieaten grits, or Graham bread, and 
good butter, with all you can eat of berries, cherries, cur¬ 
rants, melons, grapes, and peaches and apples, after breakfast and 
dinner, as dessert, taking them in their natural, raw, ripe, perfect 
state; if not in the season, take them stewed or baked, but not 
preserved. 

It was not intended in this article to detail any curious cases or 
to waste space in long disquisitions, but to present simply the 
main features of the disease as presented in ninety-nine cases in a 
hundred, so as to reach the masses of the people. If compelled 
to state the certain cure of dyspepsia in three rules, they would 
be:— 

Eat regular^ thrice a day. 

Eat just as much as will not be followed by any discomfort. 

Spend from five to ten hours every day in interested and pro¬ 
fitable out-door activities. 

The almost universal cause of dyspepsia is error in eating * 
the almost universal symptom is an unpleasant reminder that 
there is a stomach; the almost universal principle of cure is 
never.to eat so much at any regular meal, of not less than 
five hours’ interval, as will attract the attention unpleasantly 


SHIRT COLLARS. 


415 


to any portion of the body. No method of cure ever suc¬ 
ceeded which did not involve this principle, ancT when regard¬ 
ed, this alone will permanently cure any curable case, without 
one atom of medicine of any kind, and the cure will be ex¬ 
pedited in proportion as the time from after breakfast to sun¬ 
down is expended in profitable, agreeable, and absorbing out-door 
activities. 

-- 

ADIPOCIRE. 

When great numbers of human or animal bodies are buried 
together under certain circumstances, or exposed to the action of 
water, the flesh forms into a kind of soapy or gelatinous substance. 

Adipose tissue is that formation under the skin that holds the 
fatty portion of the system, composed of very small cells collected 
together at points which are filled with oil. 

Adventitious is a membrane or other thing which may form, and 
is not natural; the tough substance which forms on the lining of 
the windpipe in croup, and which grows thicker and thicker if not 
removed, is an adventitious product. 

-CZO-- 

PAPER SHIRT COLLARS 

Are glazed with a material containing white-lead. The perspira¬ 
tion of the skin dissolves the mixture ; the warmth opens the pores 
of the skin, and the poison is absorbed, carried into the blood and 
thence to the nerves, causing paralysis, which will soonest mani¬ 
fest itself in that part of the system which is most debilitated. If 
a collar or cuff or any other article of dress made of paper is 
burnt, the ashes will be found on cooling to show particles of lead. 
It is this same glazing, made of acetate of lead, which is used on 
visiting cards; there is a sweetish taste to it—hence sometimes 
called sugar of lead. Young children, attracted by the sweetness, 
have eaten them and have been poisoned. Drink warm milk 
until free vomiting has been induced, or cat the white of eggs.. 






416 


HALL'S FAJILLY DOCTOR. 


A HANDSOME FACE 

Is an attainable possession, for it is the mind that makes it, and 
keeps it handsome till threescore and after. It is mental activity, 
it is a busy life in stirring scenes, in heavy responsibilities, con¬ 
stantly calling out all the latent fires; these are they which give a 
fire to the eye, a firmness to the lip, and a clear, sharp outline to 
the features of the'face ; on the other hand, those who are born 
handsome soon grow dull and flat and flabby, and jejune in face 
and form and mind and heart, when they give themselves np to 
idleness and inactivity and animal indulgences. To get hand¬ 
some and. remain handsome, be busy in the execution of high re¬ 
solves. 

-- 

TIIE PLAGUES AND PESTILENCES 

Of centuries ago were nothing more than miasmatic poisons, pre¬ 
cisely such as in our own times cause every variety of epidemics, 
from fever and ague, diarrhoea, dysentery, and the dengue, up to 
yellow fever and Asiatic cholera, more destructive in some years 
than others, and sometimes not appearing for long years together, 
simply for the want of the proper combinations of heat and cold, 
rain and drought, in relation to decaying vegetation. When 
the yellow fever first appeared in Charleston, South Carolina, in 
the year 1700 it was called the plague; so again in 1703 it was 
called the plague; this not appearing for just a quarter of a 

century, it was then spoken of as 

• * • 

YELLOW FEVER. 

For future reference and information the following statistics 
of its visits to Charleston are given: 

1703.—The same disease occurred, with similar results, and 
was still called “ the plague.” 

17-8.—Twenty-five years elapsed, during which no mention is 
made-of epidemic sickness, when the disease of 1700 and 1703 
appeared, and was called yellow fever. • 




TIIE PLAGUES AND PESTILENCES. 


417 


1732.—It began in May and continued until October. During 
its severest period eight to twelve died daily. The population of 
the city was then about 10,000. 

1739.—It appeared, but not violently ; also, in 1745 and 1748, 
with some severity; but the deaths cannot be ascertained. 

1753 and 1755.—A few sporadic cases appeared, after which, 
until 1792 some writers say 1<94—a new series of epidemics 
commenced, appearing in 1795, 1796, 1797, and 1799, when 239 
died; 1800, 184 deaths; 1802, 96 deaths; 1804, 148 deaths; 
1807, 162 deaths. The population of the city at these periods 
was about 20,000. 

The fever passed then over the ten succeeding years. 

1817.—There were 270 deaths, of whom a great many were 
children. 

1819. —There were 176 deaths of yellow fever. 

1820. —A few sporadic cases. 

1824.—231 died of yellow fever, and this year it reached Sul¬ 
livan’s Island, causing many deaths. 

1727, 62 deaths; 1828, 26 deaths; 1830, 31 deaths. 

1834, 49 deaths; 1835, 24 deaths. 

1838. -—The year of the great fire; the fever was destructive, 
causing the death of 353 persons. Population, 30,000. 

1839. —133 deaths—the fever epidemic. From this date, for 
ten years, the city maintained a high state of health. 

1849.—A sickness prevailed, strikingly similar to that existing 
now. The weather was followed by heavy rain. The beginning 
and progress of the disease, the gradual change into a very “mild 
type of yellow,” or a “ broken bone,” or a “ bilious attack,” w r ere 
all like this season. The fever began 1st August, and ended 1st 
October; 123 died. During its progress there was very little 
alarm, and no panic. 

1852.—An epidemic prevailed ; 280 died. 

1854.—AVas a severe year; 624 died. 

1856.—There were 206 deaths. 

1858.—The most distressing sickness ever known here pre¬ 
vailed, when 680 died. Population, 45,000. 

1864.—There was some sickness. 

It will be noted that there was no yellow fever in Charleston 
from 1739 to 1792, a period of over half a century. 

One point cannot possibly be placed before an intelligent mind 
2.7 


413 


BALLS FAMILY DOCTOR, 


without securing the most fixed attention, that whenever the moist 
surfaces of the bottoms of ponds and summer streams are pre¬ 
sented to a hot summer’s sun for days in succession, epidemics 
will inevitably follow, to be destructive of life in proportion to 
the heat of the weather and the extent of the muddy bottoms. 
Sometimes an area of a few square yards has sent death into 
whole households. If such bottoms were filled a foot or two in 
depth with water no harm would result; it is the muddy bottom 
which does the mischief—the little shallow lak£s in the depres¬ 
sions of dried-up creeks. 


ACARUS 

means without a head, and is applied to the little insect which 
causes the common itch, and similar living things, supposed to 
have no heads, but to breathe through the pores of their skin; 
lienee the impression that if the skin is kept well greased, even 
with lard or sweet oil, these little breathing-tubes of theirs are 
closed up, they die of suffocation, and the itch is cured. 

LONGINGS, FRIGHTS, SHOCKS, 

are not supposed by the most eminent men in medicine to be 
capable of giving marks or blemishes to the child. The great 
Dr. Hunter, who had no equal in his century, noted down two 
thousand cases of childbirth. He asked each of these two thou¬ 
sand women, as soon as the child was delivered, 

Had you any longing? 

Had you any shocks ? 

He put every answer down in his note-book; and among those 
two thousand cases he did not have a single instance where a 
mother who had a shock or a longing had given a mark or blem¬ 
ish to her child. He did find marks and blemishes where the 
mother did not remember to have had a shock or loimino-. 

O O 


- <zcn - 

POISONOUS BED-CHAMBERS. 

Plastered walls, uncarpeted floors, and uncurtained windows, 
and a large open fire-place are the healthiest places to sleep in, as 




POISONOUS BED-CHAMBERS. 


410 


they afford the least shelter for dampness, dust, insects, mould, and 
poisonous emanation from fabrics made of unhealthful material 
or ingredients. 

Another source of ill health in sleeping apartments is the ex¬ 
clusion of sunshine. In old countries and in Rome to this day 
apartments facing the south command double prices over north¬ 
ern rooms. 

A son of one of our wealthy citizens was sent West some years 
ago, to settle on a farm. It bordered on a prairie ; the largest and 
most commodious room in the house was on its north side, an 
upper room with wide windows, making it a delightfully cool 
summer room. But the young man’s health began to decline, 
compelling him eventually to come home. The physician saw at 
once that there must have been a slowly acting cause, for the in¬ 
roads were very insidious and their manifestations not very dis¬ 
tinct, comparatively speaking ; all, however, looking to an impair¬ 
ment of the lungs, indicated by a trifling “ heck ” insufferable in 
its tantalizing frequency; but patient questioning brought out at 
length the remark that whenever he went to his wardrobe, the 
clothing appeared to be mouldy, showing the want of the health¬ 
ful, drying sunshine. lie died of consumption. 

A third and more frequent and fatal cause of unhealthful 
chambers is a vitiated air, made so by the room being kept too 
much closed against incoming pure air, while that already there, 
being breathed and rebreathed, is more and more contaminated 
at each act of respiration. 

Dr. Nichols, in his “Fireside Science,” well says that the 
crowded, ill-ventilated school-room is often the place where, 
early in life, rebreathed air commences its deadly work. Not 
one school-room in a hundred in this country is a fit place in 
which to confine children six or eight hours of the day. The lit¬ 
tle ones are herded together in a promiscuous crowd: those of 
tender years and those more advanced, the feeble and the strong, 
the sickly and the well, are all subjected to the same hours of 
study, the same school discipline, and all breathe the same dele¬ 
terious air. The hardy and the strong may be able to resist the 
influence of the poison ; the weak and tender ones grow pale and 
haggard, and, struggling on-through their school-days, live perhaps 
to the age of puberty, and then drop into the consumptive’s 
grave. Will parents never awake to the enormity of this evil ? 


/ 


420 HALL'S FMILL Y DOCTOR. 

Small, ill-ventilated sleeping-rooms, in which rebreathed air is 
ever present, are nurseries of consumption. These are not found 
alone in cities and large towns, or among the poor and lowly. 
Well-to-do farmers’ daughters and sons in the country—those 
who live among the mountains of the New England States, where 
God’s pure air is wholly undefiled—are often victims of con¬ 
sumption. ITow is this explained? Look into their bedrooms; 
examine into their daily habits of life ; and the cause is made 
plain. Old-fashioned fireplaces are boarded up ; rubber window 
strips and stoves have found their way into the most retired nooks 
and corners of the land; and the imprisoned mountain air in 
country dwellings is heated to a high point, and breathed over 
and over during the days and nights of the long winter months. 
It is certainly true that girls in the country take less exercise in 
the open air than those residing in cities. They appear to be 
more afraid of pure cold air than city girls. Consumption is 
not less rare among females in the country than in cities, in the 
present age. It was not so formerly. The declarations of grand¬ 
mothers and old physicians go to show that, fifty years ago, con¬ 
sumption was hardly known in the rural districts. The winds 
whistled through the dwellings then, and the fire blazed and roar¬ 
ed upon the hearth. Half the time, in the cold winters, “ the 
backs of the inmates were freezing, while the front parts of the 
persons were roasting; ” and yet there was less rheumatism than 
now, and no consumption. It is the want of an habitual breath¬ 
ing of pure air, night and day, which is so surely undermining 
the constitutions of multitudes. The first step towards removing 
the evil should be in the direction of sleeping in large rooms, in 
single beds, with open fireplaces, and either wide swinging doors 
or window sashes arranged to admit outdoor air. 


ZCK) 


TREATMENT OF TAPE-WORM. 

Take about forty grammes of gourd seed, or G20 grains, an 
even ounce and a-half is near enough, peel them, and make into a 
paste, add thirty grammes each of honey and castor oil, an ounce 
each is enough, or one tablespoon each; mix these with the seed; 




TREATMENT OF TAPE-WORM. 


421 


mix well, take it at one close in a glass of milk. Two hours 
later take one or two tablespoons each of castor oil and honey, 
enough to make it operate well on the bowels ; eat nothing until 
the operation, and then eat moderately, at not less than five hours 
apart for a day or two. Nothing whatever should be eaten for 
twelve hours before the gourd seed are taken. Pumpkin-seed 
tea, strong, a pint of it, fasting for at least twelve hours, and in 
ten hours more take two tablespoonfuls of castor oil. 

SPIRITS OF TURPENTINE 

half an ounce, which is a tablespoonful, with two tablespoonfuls 
of castor oil, take it all at one dose, not having eaten anything for 
at least twelve hours, and in ten hours two tablespoons of castor 
oil; this generally brings it all away. 

PINK ROOT 

and senna, each half an ounce, half a drachm of jalap, one drachm 
of bitartrate of potash, let the whole stand for an hour in boiling 
water; give one tablespoon every three hours until the worm is 
expelled, not having eaten anything for twelve hours. 

A leisure way of removing tape-worm is to bruise a pound of 
pumpkin or gourd seed, having taken off the skin, pour on a quart 
of boiling water, stir it well, and drink half a pint of it every 
morning before breakfast until a cure has been effected; if not, 
take a dose at bedtime also, all the time eating moderately, being 
out of doors several hours every day, keeping the feet warm, and 
avoiding chilliness. 

The ethereal extract of filix often fails; in such cases, one or 
two grains of the oxide of copper, combined with three or four 
grains of aloes, two or three times a day, brings away masses of 
mucus loaded with pieces of the worm, and sometimes the whole 
worm itself. No mischief has ever resulted from taking this 
remedy. 

Oil of turpentine, in doses of one or two tablespoons at a time, 
will generally bring the worm away. The Egyptians treat it by 
administering twenty or thirty drops of petroleum, fasting, two 
or three times a day. The oil of male fern, from one to four tea¬ 
spoonfuls, fasting, three or four times a day, has been effective. 

In Abyssinia, kousso, the flower of the Brayera anthelmintica, 




HALL'S FAJLIL T DOCTOR. 


half an our ce, mixed with water, before each meal is certain to 
remove the worm or kill it Kameela is also a cure; botanists 
call it B .-triers tinctoria All medicines for the removal of tape¬ 
worm sh:ulc be given on an empty stomach, thus compelling the 
worm t-_ take it also, or to imbibe it through its skin. 


AX0TKE2 IIZMZDT. 

Six grains of jalap. 

Six grains of extract of coloevnth. 

Four grains of pxiophyllim 

Make into nine pills. For one whole-day eat nothing bnt meal 
gmeL half a pint every four b urs. The next morning take three 
of the pills on an empty stomach, and repeat every three hours, 
eating n: thing that day but a pint of meal gmel before bedtime, 
next morning take one ounce, that is two tablespoonfuls. of tur¬ 
pentine, and a: noon one or two tablespoons of castor oiL This will 
very certainly bring the worm away. If not wholly successful, 
wait a week and repeat the course. The general treatment of 
tatie-w >rm by homoeopathy is to give aconite first, three globules in 
water. until fever abates, then eina in twelve hours. In twentv- 

m 

f >ur hours after this last give filix mas, which is mother tinc¬ 
ture. Give this in lamre doses, foil-owed by d-oses of castor oil or 

%_ • 

oil of turpentine. One drop of mother tincture in a teaspoonful 
of water, night and morning. 


THE APATT ITCH, 

As it is persistently called, no: because it is confined to the army, 
- only g by g lug into the army, bnt because it is so common 
among s Idlers who nave not the means of attending to it prompt¬ 
ly* ft uc~er gets well of itscu. but always gets worse, because of 
the op]- trinity, by not being disturbed, which the insect has of 
mult:p _y::.^ into niimons. Infectk n verv certainly f-ollows if a 
p-ers n who has this itch is touched, or clothing handled, or the 
sume t*ed or berm is slept in: hence tae amazing rapiditv with 
w__„ spreads when it once gets among large companies of 








THE ARMY ITCU. 


423 


men. Sometimes it is so long neglected that tlie whole blood of a 
man becomes poisoned, his whole constitution is impaired. This 
must be rectified in addition to getting clear of the insect itself. 
To this end dissolve four grains of arseniate of soda in four ounces 
or eight tablespoons of syrup of sarsaparilla. Dose: one teaspoon- 
ful on getting up in the morning and on going to bed at night. 
In addition, take once a week one dose of purgative pills at bed¬ 
time, not taking the other mixture that night nor until the next 
night. 

In addition make an ointment of four drachms of Burgundy 
pitch, one drachm each of Venetian turpentine, red-lead, and red 
precipitate, and twelve ounces of fresh butter; the first three ar¬ 
ticles named should be mixed together and reduced to the finest 
powder; put the other two in a vessel and melt them slowly, stir¬ 
ring in the powder until all are most thoroughly mixed together, 
then place it on ice or in a vessel of cold water; stir it until it 
cools to the consistency of an ointment, a small portion of which 
must be rubbed into the skin affected, night and morning. The 
underclothing should be changed at least twice a week. Once a 
week the whole body should be washed with soap and warm 
water. The diet should consist of cold bread and butter at meal 
times, with a cup of hot drink, using coarse bread and fruits and 
berries ; at dinner may take some lean meat and a vegetable, but 
no other article of food than those mentioned, and then only at 
meal times. In bad cases, time and patience will be necessary, 
but a cure permanent and satisfactory is certain if the instructions 
given are followed and the preparations named are made with 
care and of good materials. 

The sovereign homoeopathic remedy for itch is six globules of 
sulphur in a tablespoonful of water, night and morning, not hav¬ 
ing eaten anything in four hours : do this for ten days, omit a week, 
then go on as before, continuing thus until cured, using sulphur 
as a lotion or ointment externally, at the same time. A lotion is 
made by adding six drops of the saturated alcoholic tincture of 
sulphur to two tablespoonfuls of water, and apply night and morn¬ 
ing with a soft rag. 

If cases have been of long standing take a good hot bath daily 
and a good scrubbing with a coarse cloth dipped in strong soap¬ 
suds, with the following diet, employed when it is desired to 

adopt an 


424 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


EEADICATIVE TREATMENT. 

Diet.—Which should be nourishing, light, and easy of diges¬ 
tion, taken regularly in moderate quantities; equal proportions of 
animal food with vegetables—roast beef and mutton are much 
preferred, soft-boiled eggs, stale home-made bread ; only one bev¬ 
erage, universally safe, water. Stimulants and ferments are to be 
strictly avoided. 

Air.—Dry, cool, in elevated situations, no bleak winds, as little 
time in-doors, as much out as possible, never, however, to a fati¬ 
guing extent. Exercise should be free and unrestrained, particularly 
avoiding any check to the perspiration ; never remain still or un¬ 
covered for a moment while out of doors. If weather prevents, 
then exercise in-doors in any and every way calculated to circulate 
the blood, enliven the spirits, and engage pleasurable attention. 

Water.—Take a cool bath everyday; if not practicable, give 
the whole body a good scrubbing every morning with a coarse 
cloth dipped in cold water. Let this be done vigorously and 
rapidly, within five minutes. 

Cleanliness.—The most perfect, perpetual, and universal, ex¬ 
tending to person, to clothing, to bed, to chamber, to home, to 
premises, to everything. To a homceopathist filth in every form 
is an abomination not to be tolerated a moment. It is the low, 
the vulgar, the ill-bred, who have filthy habits, which keep them 
degraded. 

Habits regular—in everything regular as a clock, if possible— 
in eating, drinking, sleeping, exercise, recreation, work. Method 
should be infused into everything. From this it will be seen 
that in the three “ patliies,” 

Allopathy, 

Homoeopathy, 

Hydropathy, the same general hygienic principles are advo¬ 
cated. 


- CU72 - 

STIMULANTS IN SICKNESS. 

That there may be no doubt left on the mind in reference to 
the injurious effects of alcohol in disease, referred to in another 




STIMULANTS IN SICKNESS. 


425 


part of this book, an official report is here given, published as 
long ago as 1865, in the British Medical Journal :— 

Some remarkable statistics regarding the employment of stim¬ 
ulants, and the mortality in the London Hospital during some 
years past, appear in the last volume of the Reports of that hos¬ 
pital. In 1862, the number of in-patients was 4,519, and the 
general mortality 7.6 per cent. The quantity of stimulants con¬ 
sumed was 1,281 gallons of wine, 162 gallons of brandy, 38 gal¬ 
lons of gin, and 1,100 ounces of cinchonine. 

In 1864, the number of patients was 4,619, and the general 
mortality 10.5 per cent.; the stimulants consumed by these being- 
1,558 gallons of wine, 359 gallons of brandy, and 77 gallons of 
gin. But as a set-off, if it may so be called, 760 more leeches 
were employed during this year than the average for the five pre¬ 
ceding years, viz. 3,840. However, here we have a great increase 
in the amount of stimulants consumed, and also a great increase 
in the mortality of IS64 as compared with that of 1862. We 
state the facts, let it be understood, without in any way pretend¬ 
ing to connect them as cause and effect. 

Other statistics Dr. Frazer gives us under this head:—“From 
1854 to 1858 the annual average quantity of wine employed by 
each physician was 12,803 ounces;” each physician having an 
annual average of 391 patients under treatment. The annual 
average mortality was 11.87 per cent. But from I860 to 1864, 
the annual average quantity of wine employed by each physician 
was nearly quadrupled, being 48,136 ounces; his annual average 
number of patients was 413; and the annual average mortality 
was 12.65 per cent. 

From 1854 to 1858, each surgeon employed annually 38,016 
ounces of wine; his annual number of patients was 1,036; and 
the annual average mortality 4.48 per cent. 

From 1860 to 1864 (five years) each surgeon employed an an¬ 
nual average of 142,951 ounces of wine (nearly four times more 
than in the previous years); the annual number of patients under 
him was 1,065 ; and the annual average mortality 6.65 per cent. 

Hence w r e have, in the jDractiee of both physicians and sur¬ 
geons, a distinct increase of mortality coincident with great in¬ 
crease in consumption of stimulants. 

Dr. Fraser also tells us (referring to a former paper of His) that 
in 1851 there were 4,0-51 in-patients in the London Hospital; 


426 


HALL'S FAJfILT DOCTOR. 


that in 1S57 there were 3.035 in-patients; and that the mortality 
was greater in 1S57 as 8 to 6.5 per cent., although £962 more 
were spent in 1857 than in 1S51 for articles of luxury. 

It is curious to note that the oulv comment which Dr. Fraser 
makes on the above remarkable statistics is this:— 

“ It is evident that a steady rise in the employment of stimu¬ 
lants ... is still going on ; and whatever be the cause, we may 
rest assured that the practice is imperative and needful; for it 
would be a monstrous assumption that a whole staff could be 
blindly following an objectless routine." 

Not a single word of comment does Dr. Fraser bestow on the 
constant fact of the coincident increase of the mortality ! 

The summary of these statistics stands thus :— 

From 1S54 to 1858 each physician employed *12,800 ounces of 
wine annually; the deaths being 11.SS per cent. From I860 to 
1865 he employed 48,136 ounces: the deaths being 12.65 per 
cent. 

During 1854 to 1858 each surgeon employed annually 38,016 
ounces of wine; the deaths being 4.4S per cent. During 1S60 
to 1864 he employed annually 142.951 ounces; the deaths being 
6.65 per cent. 

In 1862 the general mortality of the hospital was 7.4 per 
cent.: the consumption of stimulants being 1.281 gallons of wine, 
162 of brandv, and 38 of orin. 

In 1864 the mortality was 10.5 per cent.; the quantity of 
stimulants consumed being 6,558 gallons of wine, 359 of brandy, 
and 12 of "in. 

- To these statements nothing need be added. 


ZCK 


ABSORPTION 

Is to draw up, to suck up, as a sponge sucks up water, or as 
a lump of sugar or salt draws up into itself any liquid with 
which it comes in contact. Applied to the human body, it 
means that process by which various tilings may be intro¬ 
duced into the blood, as water through the skin, or as the poi- 




MEASLES. 


427 


son of a viper is drawn up into the circulation from the point 
bitten. 

Sometimes when persons could not swallow, nutriment seems 
to have been conveyed by means of passing soup or other nutri¬ 
ent materials into the bowels by injection. 


•-C OO - 

ABSTINENCE 

Is usually applied to a voluntary restraining one’s self from 
taking food, as in ordinary fasting as a religious observ¬ 
ance, or compulsory as in shipwreck, or from fanaticism. The 
course to be pursued in all cases is the same; the stomach 
is weak in proportion to other parts of the body, and almost as 
incapable of action; hence give but a very little food at a time, 
and at short intervals, proportioned to the duration of the 
abstinence, if over three or four days. If there is sickness at 
stomach give five drops of morphia and ten drops of camphor 
water in a tablespoon of water; then give two or three tablespoons 
of soup or milk, thickened with bread, every half hour, for two 
or three times, and then every hour, and if no discomfort is 
experienced the feeding may be more liberal, but at longer 
intervals; if these articles are not hot a sip or two of hot tea is a 
great relief; it warms the body within and wakes up the circu¬ 
lation. 

Sometimes persons become fanatical, believing that all eat too 
much; that the less is eaten the better, and carrying this out in 
practice, the stomach becomes so debilitated that it cannot work 
at all, even if food is given it at the last hour, and the person 
dies as certainly as if compulsorily starved. 

• * 

- COO - 

MEASLES 

Is a disease of childhood, but occasionally attacks grown persons. 
The older a person is who has an attack of measles, the more 






428 


IIALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


likely is he to suffer permanent ill elfects. Many have consump¬ 
tion in its most incurable form, from an attack of measles after 
childhood, they not having come out well, or having “ struck in,” 
to use a common expresssion, that is, disappeared suddenly, 
which is often occasioned by draughts of air, chilliness, or loose 
bowels, whether by medicine or by other causes. 

This is a disease which runs its course, and seldom attacks 
a person more than once. The sooner children have it the 
better, for there is less suffering and less danger of trouble¬ 
some “ sequelae,” as physicians term it, meaning, less ill effects 
are left on the constitution. 

After having really taken the measles, it is ten or fifteen days 
before the disease manifests itself by a depression of spirits, fever, 
running at the nose as if a cold had been taken; there is a slight 
cough, and red and watery eyes. The rash appears on the fourth 
day on the face, spreading all over the body, not so bright as 
in scarlet fever; on the seventh day it begins to fade, with fading 
fever, and the scaling off of the skin. 

If the disease is not properly attended to it is followed by 
various maladies, as sore eyes, diphtheria, bronchitis, and consump¬ 
tion ; the chief things to be attended to are to keep the bow T els 
acting not more than once a day, either by enemas or a teaspoon- 
ful or two of salts or castor oil night and morning; take more or 
less, so as to have but one movement in the twenty-four hours. 
Take tin-ice a day some cracked wheat or boiled rice, with fruits, 
berries, bread and butter, sago, tapioca; keep comfortably 
warm; never by any possibility allow a feeling of chilliness, 
nor a draught of air; the room ought to be well ventilated; 
the most favorable circumstances for measles are a cool, well-ven¬ 
tilated room and to keep warm in bed; for a chill or draught will 
strike the measles in, with liability to all the bad results named. 

If the phlegm is tight, shown by a cough, or tightness in the 
chest, take a teaspoonful of syrup of ipecac or some compound 
syrup of squills, not enough to vomit, but merely to loosen the 
phlegm; but it is better to do without these things, as they tend 
to take away the appetite and make tonics necessary during the 
convalescence. 

Great harm results in numberless cases from impatience to get 
out of doors; after the rash has disappeared it is better to avoid 
leaving the house for at least a week. 


MEASLES. 


429 


Measles is a contagious disease; nothing is gained by trying to 
avoid it, for the sooner it takes place the better and safer for the 
patient. 

Flax-seed tea is good to allay the cough. The feet and hands 
may be bathed two or three times a day if they burn. Tepid 
water applied to the body once or twice a day cools it off. Drink 
tea plentifully while in bed to promote perspiration, but avoid 
cooling off afterwards too soon, or it will strike in the measles. 
Sometimes lemonade makes a cooling and pleasant drink. Take 
no cold drinks whatever. 

Measles present the appearance of a patchy redness of a circu¬ 
lar form, and the pimples made by the internal and external 
application of the skin have a feeling of a number of little hard 
points. Scarlet fever is also red, but it has a smooth feel in the 
skin, and the redness is suffused like a blush. 

When the rash is fully out, the skin is as red as a raspberry. 

If the eruption strikes in, recall the rash at once by a hot mus¬ 
tard bath; keep the feet warm by all means when in bed, with 
bottles of hot water under the arms, until the rash reappears, 
drinking hot teas meanwhile, so as, if possible, to bring on perspi¬ 
ration. If the breaking out delays, keep warm in bed and give * 
good doses of hive syrup, and drink warm teas abundantly, and 
keep the bowels open. If at any time there is a fixed pain in 
the chest following measles, keep it away by mustard plasters, ap¬ 
plied and reapplied, with such other things as are done in pneu¬ 
monia. 

There is a disease called 

FALSE MEASLES, 

somethino* between common measles and scarlet fever, it is to 
be treated on the same general principles. 

Saffron tea was given by our grandmothers to “ bring out ” the 
measles, and if it was followed by an increased redness it was 
considered favorable; it was truly a good sign, but it was not the 
saffron principle; it was the heat in the licpiid, which, throwing 
the blood to the surface, carried with it its impurities through 
the pores of the skin. 

Late discoveries seem to point to the fact that measles and scar¬ 
let fever are the product of the same living insect, or at least that 


430 


BALDS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


insect is present in both maladies, as if they were one and the 
same (which article see). 

In all cases keep the patient quiet, composed; avoid the excite¬ 
ment of company, and keep the feet and body warm all the 
time ; this is of' great importance, so as to prevent striking in. 

The homoeopathic practice is to give aconite and pulsatilla, 
which, separate or together, are considered infallible. Ipecac is 
given when there is oppressed breathing before the eruption 
appears; euphrasia, when there is severe headache; colfee, when 
there is a dry cough, or hep. sulpli. Nux vomica is given to dark- 
complexioned persons when there is a dry cough. If the eruption 
is inclined to go in, give bryonia at once ; pulsatilla, if there is 
looseness of bowels. If the brain is affected, give belladonna or 
stramonium. If the lungs seem to be affected, give phosphorus 
or sulphur. The diet should be as in other eruptive diseases. 




SCAELET FEVEE 

Is a blushy or brick-dust redness of the skin, with a smooth feel to 
the fingers. In about five days after exposure—for it is a conta¬ 
gious disease—the appetite fails, with pains in the limbs, sore 
throat, often very sore; this is the dangerous part; the redness 
appears on the face and neck, and in ten or twelve hours it is all 
over the body ; there is some swelling and great heat, reaching to 
106° Fahrenheit. The skin burns, and sometimes feels sore. There 
is a strawberry look to the tongue, little points coming up through 
its coating. The pulse is very high, intense thirst, constipation, 
vomiting, headache, and stupor in bad cases; there is an abate¬ 
ment the fifth day of the attack, and by the ninth it is pretty well 
over; the skin begins to clear, sometimes quite large pieces peel 
off. If there is great depression, some chilliness, stupor, with a 
livid appearance of the rash, as if it was going in, there is great 
danger. 

O 

In scarlet fever the rash comes out on the second day ; in mea¬ 
sles, the fourth. In scarlet fever there is sore throat, none in 
measles. 




SCARLET FEVER. 


431 


In scarlet fever the patient seems to have no cold, but docs 
have symptoms of it in measles. 

Scarlet fever has a brighter red,and is diffused; in measles the 
redness is in patches. 

As dangerous as scarlet fever is, no treatment is needed in mild 
cases; the same course is to be pursued as in measles, but in addi¬ 
tion, if there is not free urination, drink freely of flax-seed tea or 
lemonade; if the throat is much inflamed, swallow little lumps of 
ice all the time until relieved. 

Gargle the throat with red pepper, vinegar, and water. 

If there is bad breath, make a mixture of equal parts of muri¬ 
atic acid and honey, dilute it so as to be used as a gargle, or 
twenty grains of sulphate of zinc in an ounce of water as a gargle. 

The great points to be labored for in scarlet fever are: 

First. Keep the bowels free by a free use of fruits, berries, and 
cracked wheat. 

Second. Keep out the rash by the prevention of chilliness and 
looseness of bowels. 

Third. Keep down thirst and fever by acid drinks, lemonade, 
buttermilk, etc. 

Fourth. Keep the room cool and well ventilated. 

Fifth. If there is a tendency to debility, add some meat, poul¬ 
try, and soups, with bread crust, to the diet. 

Sixth. In great heat of the skin, sponge it freely and often with 
tepid water. 

Homoeopathy gives belladonna as soon as any dryness or burning 
is noticed in the mouth and throat, and there is a desire to drink, 
but no ability. Give mercurius in six hours after the second dose 
of belladonna; and six hours later, arsenicum, if there is great 
prostration and the ulcers emit an offensive odor. If arsenicum 
does not restore reaction, then give nux vomica. If inflamma¬ 
tion, give aconite, followed by belladonna, if the pulse falls and 
fever abates. If the skin burns and there is drowsiness and stu¬ 
por, give opium. If convulsions are present and are not relieved 
by opium, give zincum. If the eruption is intense, give sulphur. 

A favorite treatment of scarlet fever in England is to immerse 
the patient in a warm bath in the early stage of the disease, and 
this is repeated frequently, or as often as the strength of the pa¬ 
tient will allow. The first effect js to produce a soothing and 
refreshing feeling in the patient, to be followed soon by such an 


432 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


eruption on tlie surface, of so vivid a color, and in such amount 
as would astonish those who have never witnessed it. Thus one 
of the greatest dangers of this fearful disease—the suppression of 
the eruption—is escaped. 

The appetite generally returns after the first or second bath, 
and the strength of the patient is kept up by nutritious food. 
The batli prevents the dissemination of the disease, by removing 
the excreta from the skin as soon as it is deposited. This treat¬ 
ment promotes cuticular desquamation. The body should be 
gently dried by soft linen cloths after the bath. 

By this procedure the various secretions are deprived of their 
noxious properties, and the irritation of internal organs is quickly 
relieved, thus dissipating infection. Another benefit is, that a very 
serious case is soon reduced to a mild one, and the patient recov¬ 
ers in less than half the usual time. 

An eminent London practitioner claims that in fifteen years’ 
practice, the adoption of this treatment has not failed to cure scar¬ 
let fever in a single instance. 


- CCK> - 

AMMONIA 

Was first made from the soot of burning camel’s dung near the 
Temple of Ammon or Jupiter Ammon, whose representation was in 
the form of a ram, strong smelling ; it consists of three parts hy¬ 
drogen and one part nitrogen. It is found in largest quantities for 
commercial purposes in a liquid product of coal in the process of 
obtaining the gas from it for illuminating purposes; by mixing car- 



becomes gaseous at thirty-eight degrees, and freezes, becomes solid, 
at seventy-five ; hence if not corked well it evaporates, leaving 
nothing but a scentless water, or if in a solid form, disappears en¬ 
tirely, 

AMMONIA 

in a solid form is called smelling-salts; if liquid, it is hartshorn, 
because if the horn of a hart or deer is reduced to fine shavings 
and soaked in warm water and distilled, it produces an impure 




AMMONIA. 


4 00 
OO 

kind of ammonia; this ammonia is composed of nitrogen and hy¬ 
drogen. Acpia ammonia is the watery preparation, and tincture of 
ammonia is an alcoholic solution, and is called spirits of hartshorn. 
Hartshorn is often applied to the nostrils of persons in an insensi¬ 
ble condition, “ to bring them to.” It should be applied with 
care, if applied at all, as it has caused violent and even fatal in¬ 
flammations of the breathing organs. If a person has his senses, 
there is no danger in breathing it, because if too strong for him 
he instinctively withdraws from it. 

If taken by mistake, it acts as a corrosive poison to the throat 
and stomach, when vinegar or lemon-juice should be swallowed 
instantly, as the latter is an acid, the former an alkali, and they 
antagonize each other like cold and hot water mixed. 

A half-pint bottle of aqua ammonia, and also of the spirits of 
hartshorn, should be kept in every household, well stoppered with a 
tight cork or ground-glass stopper. Aqua ammonia, eight or ten 
drops in a tablespoon or two of water, often relieves belchings, 
eructations, wind in the bowels, heart-burn, sometimes called acid¬ 
ity of stomach ; all these meaning indigestion, that is, the food in the 
stomach, whatever it may be, is not digested, is not acted upon 
naturally by the juices of the stomach, for either they are not 
strong enough, or the quantity of food is too great for them ; so 
the food sours, ferments, rots, and being sour, the ammonia, being 
the very opposite of sour, causes it to disappear, arrests the fer¬ 
mentation. 

About ten drops of this aqua ammonia in a pint of warm wa¬ 
ter, about every five days, greatly revives and invigorates house- 
plants and flowers. All rain-water contains ammonia; and it is 
that ingredient which so freshens and revives them, the ammonia 
acting as a nutriment or food. 

All observant farmers know that the deeper and longer the 
snows of winter, the richer will he the crops of summer. This is 
because snow is frozen rain, and lias all its ammonia; guano, the 
richest manure of the world, is thus rich because of the great 
quantity of ammonia it contains ; and this, too, is the reason why 
barnyard manure enriches the soil upon which it is spread. 

The substance which causes the poisonous effects following the 
bites of insects, serpents, and animals is acid • hartshorn is the 
strongest alkali, hence an instantaneous cure of these bites is often 
effected by dipping a soft rag in hartshorn and applying it to 
23 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


434 : 

the* spot, constantly renewing it. This spirits of hartshorn acts 
beneficially in another way: it evaporates rapidly, lienee carries 
off the heat, the inflammation of the part, cools it, and thus gives 
grateful and instant relief. Persons whose monthly turns are 
difficult or painful, have had a grateful relief afforded them by 
sitting over a chamber in which lias been placed half a table¬ 
spoon of spirits of hartshorn. Sometimes the pain disappears in 
a minute, not returning until the next time, when it is as efficient 
as at first. Those who have ill-smelling feet, or have odors aris¬ 
ing from their persons, often antagonize it completely by wash¬ 
ing their feet and their armpits with a mixture of a tablespoon of 
spirits of hartshorn in half a pint of warm water, a tablespoon of 
the mixture to each foot, especially between the toes, and a table¬ 
spoon under each arm every night. If used in the morning, it 
may impart a disagreeable odor to the clothing during the day. 
A tablespoon of spirits of hartshorn to a pint of warm w T ater 
makes the best 

IIA IK WASH 

in the world, because the alkali of the hartshorn unites with the 
grease or oil on the scalp; the hair is naturally oily, and makes a 
soap which, if rubbed into the roots of the hair, cleans the scalp 
perfectly, uncovers every pore obstructed by dandruff and dust; 
and nothing known so much promotes the health of the hair and 
its healthy grow T th as the cleanliness of the scalp, and nothing 
can do any good to the hair, towards promoting its growth or res¬ 
toration, except in proportion as it cleans the scalp, and in addi¬ 
tion stimulates the circulation of the blood about the roots of 
each hair ; this the hartshorn does. We know it does so by 
its reddening the skin if it is rubbed briskly upon it. This 
reddening means that there is an increased flow of blood to the 
part; and what it does on the skin of the body it will do on the 
skin of the head. Rinse the hair well with cold water afterwards. 
Hartshorn water makes a very cleanly wash for the whole bodv, 
by uncovering every pore of the oily matter mixed with dust 
which clogs it, and gives a delightful feeling of coolness and 
freshness of a summer’s day, when the whole atmosphere is hot 
and sultry and lifeless. 


AMMONIA. 


435 


WASHING PAINT 

is best done by dipping a soft flannel in a mixture of one table¬ 
spoon of spirits or water of hartshorn in a quart of warm water; 
simply wash off the wood work—no scrubbing is necessary; if 
the mixture is strong enough of hartshorn, it takes off all grease- 
marks easily. 

If you want to remove grease-spots from any delicate fabric 
which will not bear washing with soap, dip a piece of white blot- 
ting-paper in strong spirits of hartshorn, lay it over the spot, and 
iron it lightly. 

If you want to 

WASH LACES 

nicely, put twelve drops of spirits of hartshorn in warm soapsuds. 

TO CLEAN SILVER, 

nothing is better, easier, or more convenient than a wash made 
of two teaspoonfuls of spirits of hartshorn in a quart of hot soap¬ 
suds ; put the articles in the water, and use any kind of old nail or 
tooth brush. 

IIAIR BRUSHES 

are easily cleaned in the same mixture, rinsing them in cold 
water afterwards, and putting them out to dry in the open air or 
hot sun. 

It is an excellent thing, also, to wash off finger-marks from gilt 
frames, and other places—a few drops of hartshorn on a moist 
rag; rub it quickly and lightly. 

Sometimes blue and black fabrics are stained red by strong 
acids having fallen on them; hartshorn will remove these red 
stains. 

FADED WRITINGS. 

Dampen a piece of soft white paper, lay it on the faded writing, 
press it down closely; put a tablespoon of spirits of hartshorn in a 
tin vessel, with a candle or lamp under it; hold the soft damp 
paper over it, so as to receive the fumes of the hartshorn ; if the 


43 G 


HALL'S FAMILY DO Cl OB. 


writing is not exhibited on the soft paper plain enough, dampen 
it again, and repeat the whole process until it is plain enough. 
Sometimes a physician’s prescription may become faded by water 
or other fluid, and it may be a matter of life and death to have it 
renewed or made legible. It adds greatly to the comfort and 
convenience of human life in many ways, and at various times, to 
know all the uses to which what we have at hand may be ap¬ 
plied. Hence the statement of several uses oh hartshorn, which 
have no immediate connection with health or medicine ; and 
the same course will be pursued in reference to other articles 
possessing a medicinal effect, but which may be applied to other 
and important purposes. 


zoo 


BRONCHITIS 

Is a cold settling on the branches of the windpipe, which are 
called bronchia, hence the name ; the word “ itis ” being added, 
which means “ inflammation,” whenever it ends a word. Bron¬ 
chitis is acute or chronic: acute, when it lasts a few days or 
weeks; chronic, when it lasts for years or a lifetime. The acute 
form comes with a chill, then fever; the eyes and nose water, 
there is a binding, a cord-like feeling across the breast, more dis¬ 
tinct when there is an attempt to draw a long breath. There is a 
harsh, dry cough, which fails to loosen the phlegm which plugs 
up the bronchial tubes and keeps the air from passing in and out 
freely, hence the shortness of breath and the tightness. Go to bed; 
have hot bricks or bottles to the feet; put a mustard plaster, a 
large one, all over the chest; take a liver pill or four purgative 
pills; keep warm in bed, get into a perspiration, and you will be 
relieved in half an hour, the more decidedly so when the pill be¬ 
gins to take hold, in about two hours; when it operates, you will 
feel like a new man, if you don’t renew your cold or check the 
perspiration suddenly. Do not be in a hurry to get out of doors ; 
live for a few days on bread and butter, and fruits or berries at 
each meal; nothing else but a little lean meat for dinner added. 




BRONCHITIS. 


437 


CIIEONIC BRONCHITIS. 

Tlic puncipal feature is a hard, dry cough, luainly in tlie morn- 
ing on getting up and stirring around in dressing, with spells of 
same kind of cough during the day; seldom troubled with cough- 
during the night, because the body is kept warm in bed. After 
coughing a while the phlegm begins to loosen, and the cough sub¬ 
sides. Some do all their coughing in the morning, and, for the 

e da}, are pretty well. The morning cough is so 
violent in some persons, lasting for an hour or more, that a looker- 
on would think they were in the last stages of consumption, and 
yet, twenty years later, they are still coughing. It is wholly dif¬ 
ferent in its nature from consumption ; it seldom ends in con¬ 
sumption. As a general rule, not much can be done for it in the 
way of cure; it can be kept down, can be modified very much'by 
a fruit and coarse bread diet, dressing warm all the time, keeping 
the feet comfortable, avoid taking colds, and having the bowels to 
act very freely and fully every day, by any and every means. A 
chill, a cold, even a slight one, biliousness and costiveness, always 
aggravate the ailment, hence they should be constantly guarded 
against. The chest should be well protected, especially from No¬ 
vember to June, by wearing a buckskin jacket during the day¬ 
time over the flannel shirt. It should come half-way down the 
arms. The whole neck and scalp of a man, and arms and arm- 
pits, should be well washed in cold water every morning through¬ 
out the year, keeping the feet always warm, so as to draw the ex¬ 
cess of blood from the lungs. Great injury is done by following 
the advice of ignorant persons to take various preparations, keep¬ 
ing the stomach gorged with medicines, interfering with digestion, 
debilitating the body, most of them aggravating the malady in the 
future by affording temporary relief. Every medicine in the 
world sold for a cough does an injury in bronchitis, because it 
contains opium. 

It may be convenient or necessary sometimes to aid in loosening 
the phlegm; in such cases take as little medicine as possible, and 
that the least bulky. Avoid cough remedies with sweets in them ; 
they soon cloy the stomach and impair the digestion. Coxe’s 
hive syrup, called the compound syrup of squills, is always more 
or less efficient in loosening the phlegm; about half a teaspoonful 


43S 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


at a time, more or less, so as not to induce gagging or vomiting. 
Anything which has a nauseating effect brings relief. Perhaps 
the simplest and least objectionable remedy is 

TINCTUKE OF IPECAC. 

/ 

Put a teaspoonful of powdered ipecac root in a vial, pour upon 
it two tablespoonfuls of any kind of spirits, shake it well daily 
for several days; it can be used in ten minutes after the first 
shaking; let it settle, and take from ten to twenty or more drops 
on a lump of loaf sugar, or in a little water, or as it is; take 
enough to cause some nausea. None of these nauseants should 
be taken within two hours after eating a meal, for they may 
cause vomiting. 

^ • * * 

This tincture of ipecac should be kept well stoppered ; it is the 

safest, simplest, and best remedy ever known for a troublesome, 
dry, hacking cough of any kind; it has no after ill-effects, is of 
little bulk, can be carried in the vest-pocket, and may be always 
relied upon to loosen phlegm, if there is any phlegm to loosen, 
and anything can loosen it. In the author’s book on bronchitis 
and kindred diseases, the nature of the ailment, and how to dis¬ 
tinguish it certainly from consumption, is more fully stated. 

Let it be remembered that keeping chronic bronchitis under 
control, and eradicating it from the system, is greatly expedited 
under any form of treatment in proportion to the greater number 
of hours spent in out-door activities, with abundant bodily 
warmth all the time, with fruit and coarse bread diet, lean meat, 
and one vegetable once a day, and a full, free action of the bowels 
every twenty-four hours. This course cures of itself often. 

A disagreeable remedy, yet one of the best known to control 
morning cough, to loosen it, and to prevent a good deal of dis¬ 
tress in aggravated chronic bronchitis, is thus prepared : 

One thousand grains of gum ammoniac, an exudation from a 
tree growing in Persia and Ilindostan; one hundred grains of 
sulphate of copper, known as blue vitriol; and twenty-four ounces 
of water, which is a pint and a half, or forty-eight tablespoonfuls. 
A dose is one drachm, or one teaspoonful*, containing half a grain 
of sulphate of copper and five grains of the gum. Take one tea¬ 
spoon or more on first getting up in the morning, about an hour 
before breakfast, so as to cause free vomiting. The relief is such. 


PORES OF THE SRm. 


439 


that persons troubled greatly with night and morning cough, 
have voluntarily taken it at bed-time, not having eaten or drank 
anything within five hours. The author merely states the facts 
coming under his own observation, leaving the reader who is 
troubled with a 


BRONCHIAL COUGH 

which is really distressing, to decide for himself whether he will 
try the experiment on himself or not. 

Under the daily use of this seemingly disagreeable remedy, 
the author has known his patients to begin to gain flesh within a 
week, to improve the appetite, to invigorate the digestion, and to 
increase in flesh and strength, and to recover from coughs which 
seemed to indicate that the person -was in the advanced stages of 
consumption. It is. worthy of a fair, persistent trial. 


050 


POKES OF THE SKIN. 

If all the skin of a man was stretched out against the side of a 
house, it would cover about thirty square feet; this skin is filled 
with pores or openings, through which the perspiration is con¬ 
stantly escaping, carrying with it several ounces of waste, useless, 
and poisonous matter every day, depositing it outside the body. 
There are about twenty-five hundred pores in each square inch, or 
five millions in all; they are of different sizes, the largest are in 
the soles of the feet. This shows how important it is for the skin 
of the body to be kept scrupulously clean, so as to give the freest 
exit to those particles, which if retained only poison the blood. 
In fever all the pores are closed, and there is no health, no appe¬ 
tite, no comfort. 

More especially ought the feet to be kept clean, the soles of 
the feet; the pores there are almost sluices; the soles should be 
kept as clean as the face, should be dipped in water every morning 
for an instant, and then wiped smartly, rapidly, and hard. If they 
are not thus wiped, the foul matters which they would ha\e car¬ 
ried outside the body are reabsorbed, and thus are a double source 




440 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


of poisoning the blood; and yet very many people do not wash 
tlieir feet oftener than once a week. It is a very great mistake. 

If these little pores were joined end and end, they would make 
a tube twenty-five miles long. 

It is said that in China men will sometimes replaster a small 
sleeping-room for nothing, feeling themselves paid by scraping 
from the walls, as manure, the dried breath of the sleepers in the 
course of years. Through the five million pores in the skin of an 
ordinary adult, there passes out in common life about one pint of 
liquid matter, of which one ounce is a solid substance, made up 
of waste, useless, and poisonous particles, which if kept in the sys¬ 
tem a few hours would cause death ; hence the wisdom of keep¬ 
ing these pores open by cleaning off from the skin every particle 
of dust and dirt and oil. But in addition to this pint of liquid 
and ounce of more solid matter, there is a large amount of car¬ 
bonic acid gas escaping from these pores, a gas so deadly that one 
full breath of it would fell a man to the earth as instantaneously 
as would a thunderbolt; no wonder, then, that personal cleanliness 
is such an important element in the preservation of health. Cover 
up every one of these five million pores, death would follow within 
five hours. By all means let every reader have so much respect 
for himself as to make it a point to keep the whole surface of the 
body strictly clean, not merely the face and the hands, but the 
soles of the feet, under the arms, in the groin, behind the knees, 
as well as the general surface, for purity of mind comes with 
purity of body, as well as personal elevation; for the world over, 
dirt degrades the mind, corrupts the morals, and destroys the 
body. The proverb taken from the Hebrew Talmud is true: 
“ cleanliness into godliness; ” meaning thereby, that cleanliness 
leads into a godly state, naturally. 

The feet of some persons have such an odor, that it scents a 
room when they enter it. Ill-smelling feet is inherited or con¬ 
stitutional with some, in others it is acquired, but in both cases it 
may be overcome by washing the feet every morning or evening, 
wiping them well, and then rub over them a little of the mixture 
made by adding a teaspoonful of spirits of hartshorn to half a pint 
of water. 


INTERESTED EXERCISE. 


441 


INTERESTED EXERCISE. 

A very great obstacle to the improvement of the health, as well 
as maintaining it, is found in the failure to take that daily 
amount of out-door exercise which is absolutely essential to those 
who are most of the time in-doors, including' wives and daughters, 
and those men in towns and cities who have no special occupation, 
or who are recovering from sickness. 

Exercise, to be highly beneficial, should be of a character which 
interests the mind—which is more or less exciting, and agreeably 
calls out both the physical and mental activities. An objectless 
walk does very little' good, nor is a listless ride in a carriage cal¬ 
culated to benefit any one. This principle ought to be taken into 
consideration. Exercise is advised as a means of promoting the 
health. There are multitudes of cases where medicine is utterly 
unavailing; where the system is brought to that condition when it 
must be let alone, to recuperate by its own natural powers ; in 
many such cases judicious exercise is invaluable, but to be effect¬ 
ual there must be a motive ahead, something sufficiently absorbing 
to bear the mind away from the consciousness of bodily ill. 

Persons are often without a motive to go outside the door, be¬ 
cause they do not know what might be seen in an hour’s walk or 
ride. To give a case in point of which advantage may well be taken 
by any New Yorker whose eye may chance to fall on this page, or by 
any person in the country who may have occasion to come to the 
city : starting out some sunny morning from any point between 
the Battery and Ilarlem River, there are routes to be taken for al¬ 
most every day in the year, even by an old New Yorker, which 
might be found full of novelty, interest, and instruction, es¬ 
pecially with a cheery companion or a guest in the family, to say 
nothing of the health-giving influences which would be necessarily 
experienced. 

Suppose it is a summer morning; have an early breakfast; be ready 
to leave your door at 6 o’clock; enter a South Ferry stage, which will 
take you to a Staten Island boat, giving you an hour’s ride down the 
bay, and bringing you in sight of the ocean, to breathe the salt sea air 
in all its freshness. Stop at Vanderbilt’s Landing,‘take the cars 
for the interior of the Island, and in a run of a dozen miles there 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


442 

will be found a variety of scenery, of forest and garden, of hill 
and plain, of cabins and country-seats, which will be perfectly 
charming in its contrast with the unvarying brick and mortar of 
the city. Order a dinner at any of the good stopping-places 
found in every direction, with fruits, native and tropical, 
berries and melons and ice-cream, in all their abundance and 
lusciousness ; then, an hour’s saunter through the woods and by the 
sea, returning by cars to the boat, thence up the bay in the cool 
of the day, a while before sundown, steaming through whole 
fleets of ships and barges and floating hotels, those mammoth 
constructions, which will house and feed a thousand people ; some 
going out, some coming in; the departing expecting no return 
for months or years; those coming home after long absences 
in foreign lands, so full of joyous expectation of seeing familiar 
faces and friends and kindred waiting on the shore to give them a 
glad welcome; with sights and associations like these, to fill the mind 
and wake up its activities, you seek your home, tired it may be, but 
the delicious sleep which will follow, the renovation of the blood 
which has been occasioned, and the waked-up appetite for the next 
day, with all the accompanying feelings of wellness and vigor, what 
a pity is it, that there are literally thousands in New York City, 
who, until this reading, have never imagined such a trip for a 
dollar was possible. 

Or take an early breakfast and boat up the Hudson to Cornwall 
Landing, to arrive at noon ; make your way to the “ Mountain 
House,” with an appetite which you have not had in a year; take 
a leisure walk after dinner to the brow of the Storm King, and see a 
panorama before you which travelled men and women declare is not 
surpassed in beauty and magnificence in all their journeyings in the 
world ; that Switzerland has nothing equal to it; where the air is 
as pure as that from the poles, and the breezes as sweet as those 
which come from Araby the blest. Remain over night, to gaze upon 
the scene at sunset, by moonlight, and in the early morning, and 
impressions of loveliness will be left on the mind which time will 
not efface. Returning to New York next day, there will be reno¬ 
vation, a “ making over ” of body and mind, perfectly de¬ 
lightful to think of. Just think of it: a trip to the bay of Naples, 
or what is more beautiful; and a trip to Switzerland, or what sur¬ 
passes, to be had in a day from New York! 

For another day take the Central Park. A few cents will 


THE CENTRAL PARK. 


443 


carry you to its gates by the Eighth, Sixth, or Fourth avenue 
cars, starting from near the Astor House. At one of these gates 
will be found vehicles in waiting, which, for a quarter of a dollar, 
will carry you through winding ways and gardens.of flowers, by 
lake and waterfall, along terraces and through tunnels, for miles 
and miles together, and will, in an hour or two, set you down in 
safety at the place you started from. But a better plan would 
be to take a leisure walk of half a day, if you please, which will 
give you an opportunity of seeing places far more beautiful than 
a ride will afford ; and when you have been delighted with the 
graceful swans of the lakes, have sat and contemplated in sum¬ 
mer for hours on the shores of the lake, have been floated in 
gondolas over the smooth bosom of the sparkling water, and have 
ordered a dinner at the Casino which w r ould tempt a king, then 
visit the Menagerie, to 

See the monkeys dance. 

And instruct yourself as to the habits of those bears and lions of 
which you read in ancient days, 

Who so delight 

To growl and fight. 

Then do not fail to visit the Museum of Natural History, where 
you will see the most instructive and interesting exhibition in all 
departments to be found anywhere on this continent—enough 
itself for a whole day’s delight. At the Arsenal, near by, are to 
be seen the elephant, the rhinoceros, the seal, the alligator, and 
foxes and wolves and birds and fishes so beautiful and full of 
life as they skim along on the bosom of the liquid lake. Besides 
these, you wander through the long halls one after another, and 
up stairs and down with their magnificent variety of minerals 
and insects, so delicate, so rare, so beautiful and so numerous, 
collected by various hands, from clown to emperor, getting new 
views, and wider and more comprehensive, of the universe of 
things than you ever had before. 

Another day, drop yourself down at the corner of Broadway and 
Tenth street, where Brady’s Gallery, free to all,.displays its unri¬ 
valled beauties in photographic art, and gaze by the hour in wonder 
and delight at the life-like presentations of the men of our time, 
of accomplished women, of distinguished singers, of nameless 


444 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


girls in all tlieir coyishness and childhood and infancy, so sweet, 
so pure, carrying you back in delighted reminiscence to other 
and earlier days of your own, departed now, never to return. 

Then pass across the street to that magnificent structure wfith 
its more wonderful containings, of the costliest fabrics of all 
climes and countries, with their crowds of busy admirers and 
the thousand deferential and courteous attendants, ready at a word 
and without a murmur to make their rich displays, so tempting 
to purse and pride and prudence. Taking nothing with you but 
the boast, if you are not a New Yorker, that you have been to 

stewart’s store. 

You cross a street in the rear, and one block to your right, brings 
you face to face with a world’s wonder of Christian beneficence, 
the 

BIBLE HOUSE, 

covering a whole square of ground, looming up toward the sky 
in seven or eight stories, in the lowest of which you may chance 
to see unwieldy wagons delivering their tons of paper, which 
forthwith begin to rise through story after story, and when it 
reaches the topmost height it begins to descend stair by stair, 
until it comes to earth again; but with the change, it went up a 
bald blank sheet, now it is the 

BLESSED BIBLE, 

in cheap or costly form, from a few cents to fifty dollars a vol¬ 
ume, to be sent away to the ends of the earth to “ show to men 
benighted ” the way to immortality and eternal life, where the 
toils of the present are ended, its sorrows and its tears all cease, 
forever and forever. And just across one street there stands 
a stately pile of dark-brown stone. Seventy years agone a poor 
little boy, working for twenty-five dollars a year, was wishing one 
day he had some books to read; he wished too that he could go 
to school; he wished other little boys could go to school, and read 
books too. “ I would like to give them books, and teachers to 
show how to use them. Wouldn’t I be glad one of these days to 
do it.” He worked on for that poor pitiful sum of twenty-five 
dollars a year, never faltering, never idle; after ten years he was 
“ better ofi; ” after twenty he had money ahead ; in half a cen- 


PETER COOPER . 


445 


tury lie said to a man, with a whole armful of drawings stretched 
out on the broad table, “ Here are six hundred thousand dollars; 
build that house ; let there be rooms in it where c poor little boys 
like me,’” and he went back fifty years in his mind, thinking for 
the instant that there had been no change in him, “ can have 
books to read and teachers to teach, all for nothing; and away 
down under the earth, away from all noise and bustle and con¬ 
fusion, let there be an assembly room to hold two thousand peo¬ 
ple, who can hear lectures, and listen to music, and have sermons 
preached to them about the great future, and towards the top 
another spacious apartment, light and cheerful and airy, with 
newspapers from all parts of the world, and pictorials and maga¬ 
zines and useful books, to be visited by any of woman born, for 
all time, black or white, old or young, male or female, to remain 
an hour, or all day, from year’s end to year’s end, to be cool and 
cpiiet in summer; in winter cozy and warm, with brilliant 
lights to read the tiniest print, until away on in the night, when 
it is time for bed. And then there must be other rooms for paint¬ 
ing and for design, and for instruction in all arts and sciences, 
all for nothing for £ poor little boys like me.’ ” And when you 
have gone up and down and through, and looked at it all, and 
thought it all over, carried away with admiration at what has 
been done by 

PETER COOPER, 

turn it all over in your mind, and decide for yourself what you 
can do, what you ought to do for poor little boys and girls in 
your neighborhood to help them to help themselves to be some¬ 
thing in the world, while they are in it, and to be above the an¬ 
gels afterwards. 

How you can go one block back to Lafayette Place, a short 
street parallel with Broadway, and not a hundred yards from it. 
If it is not earlier than ten o’clock in the morning, nor later than 
sundown, you can enter an imposing structure built by the munifi¬ 
cence of a poor little Dutch boy, with a 

PACK ON Ills BACK, 

a pack of u wild varmint ” skins, to be sold to somebody. A 
purchaser came who was glad to give his money for them ; the 


BALDS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


41-6 

little boy knew where he could get more, and he set his traps for 
them and got others to set traps for them, until there was a line 
of traps across the Continent to the great Pacific Sea, ending at 
Astoria, in Oregon; and dollars came tumbling in until they 
amounted to many millions, and out of these was built the 

ASTOE LIBRARY, 

with its scores of thousands of the rarest and best and costliest 
books in the world. You can go there and read any of them 
all day, from ten till sunset, any day in the year and all da}’S in 
the year, or you can copy them or study over them and make other 
books out of them without let or hindrance. Everything so clean 
and nice and comfortable and cozy, and so respectable too and 
quiet; a perfect elysium to one who has time and leisure and taste 
to avail himself of treasures so unspeakable in value. 

If you are not tired, go two blocks westward to Second avenue, 
and you will be near Eleventh street, where is the bhilding of the 
Historical Society. It is not open to everybody, yet a ticket of 
admission can be had for the asking from any of the members, 
but as you may not receive one, you can go to the Tribune office, 
or that of the Yew York Express ^ or the Observer , founded, like 
the telegraph by a 


MORSE. 

With such a ticket, the doors will wide open swing, and en¬ 
tering, you will see what you never expected to see before*, 
h on can handle as well as see some of the very bricks which 
Hoses people made, or. so near like them, you couldn’t tell which 
was winch, with a collection of interesting antiquities gathered in 
a lifetime’s wanderings through Egypt and the Iloly Land, by 
that plain little old man, Hr. Abbott himself, a poor boy once, and 
who, when he was living, was very enthusiastic in his descriptions 
to the author of the wonderful things which he was then exhibit¬ 
ing on Broadway. But he is dead now, and has left his wonder¬ 
ful treasures to delight all comers’ eyes for the ages afterwards ; 
the mummies and the men; the beasts and the birds ; the seals 
and the signets ; the gems and the jewels, which glistened and 
glittered on the breasts and fingers of the Pharaohs of near four 
thousand years ago. And there, too, are the marbles from Yineveh, 


WASHING TOY IRVING. 


447 


tlie very building stones upon which Jonah gazed; the pavements 
on which he trod, and the curiously sculptured figures by fingers 
which plied the ready tool a thousand years before Koine was. 

You are tired now. Go another day to the Mercantile Library, 
near Broadway and Eighth Street, with its hundred thousand 
well-thumbed volumes, the product of busy brains, great and small, 
living and dead ; then a leisure walk along Broadway, northward, 
brings you to the Academy of Design, into which you can enter for 
a small fee, and gaze with wonder and delight upon those creations 
of the pencil, which the men and women of taste in all ages so 
love to contemplate and study and admire. And just across the 
street, above Putnam’s handsome book store, the same Putnam 
who was a friend of 

WASHINGTON IRVING, 

making by his foresight, his energy, and his enterprise uncounted 
dollars for the great writer, so loving and so loved. Well, in 
the upper rooms of that splendid building, the 

ASSOCIATION HALL, 

will be found, aiid persons to explain to you its origin, its workings 
and its accomplishments; how that, a very few years ago, some 
thoughtful young men noticed that boys coming from the country 
to the city to make their fortunes, with high resolves, and honor¬ 
able aims sometimes, often made their ruin instead, by falling into 
the hands of bad men, who, seeing their ignorance of city ways, led 
them into evil paths and places, out of which they came—lost! 
and that others coming and not finding employment, became dis¬ 
couraged, their money spent, no acquaintance, no friend, nothing 
to eat, no place to sleep, and forced to adopt any plan to save 
dear life ; plans, too often, leading to degradation and crime. 
Others there were who would get sick, and, without care or food 
or medicine, would lay down and die ; some mother’s son, with¬ 
out a mother’s tender watching, she herself all unknowing what 
was going on in the great city where that son was; gone there to ti y 
and do something to keep her now, and to be able in after 3 eais iO 
give her a home of comfort and quiet and peace in her old age ; but 
that same son was dying now, to be buried by stranger hands in a 
pauper’s grave 5 things like these were happening all thiongh me 


448 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


months and years, had been so happening for a century; and these 
young men—how pleasant it would be to record their names !—re¬ 
solved that they would get other young men of like mind to join 
with them and devise a plan by which, whenever a young man or 
youth or boy was noticed to be a stranger, his acquaintance should 
1>3 made, his confidence should be gained ; he should be invited 
to church on Sundays, and be helped to find a “ situation,” and 
when obtained, some one, would have an eye on him, would visit 
him now and then, and prompt him to vigilance in his duty, to fi¬ 
delity to Ids employers, to rectitude in himself; warning him against 
dangerous places, to keep away from the restaurant, from the cor¬ 
ner grocery, from the engine house, from the theatre, and the danc¬ 
ing saloon ; to visit him when sick, to help him to money if his 
funds failed in emergencies. Then they bethought themselves of 
having a cheerful, warm, tidy, well-lighted room, where, when 
night came, and the business places were all shut, especially the long 
nights of winter, instead of sitting for hours in their lonely rooms 
at their boarding-houses they could sit down and read the papers 
and keep themselves informed of what was going on in the city, 
of who wanted such help as they could afford, at better wages, 
and kindred things; then, there were magazines to read, and 
books to study, with pleasant conversable acquaintances between 
times. And the thing went on, and went on, rising and widening, 
until it required a building to accommodate all who came, and 
successfully carry out all that was wanted; a building which 
would cost a hundred and fifty thousand dollars to erect; and 
then young men took a paper and wrote down their names for 
so much, and got others to write down their names for so much; 
and some of them, having rich fathers, got them to put down 
their names for so much, and when they came to “ foot it up,” they 
had money enough to buy the ground and contract for the build¬ 
ing, and this is the hall of the Young Men’s Christian Association 
of New York City, the city’s honor, the honor of the State, of the 
nation, of civilization. With your heart all swelling with human 
sympathy at the contemplation of deeds so disinterested as these, 
so honorable to humanity, cross two blocks westward, which 
brings you abreast of the far-famed Fifth Avenue Hotel, and go¬ 
ing along that magnificent street at your easiest convenience, for 
hurry is never healthful? and on, and on, and on, you pass the pa¬ 
latial mansions of the rich, costing, some of them, with their con- 


ASSOCIATION HALL. 


449 


tents, nearly a quarter of a million of dollars. Yes, just think of 
it, living in a house, costing, with its furniture, a hundred thou¬ 
sand dollars, two hundred thousand dollars, their owners some of 
them poor boys less than forty years ago, and when you have 
passed several hundred such mansions, and several churches, 
Catholic and Protestant, at half a million each, stop at number six 
hundred and eighty-one, where you will take a comfortable seat 
to rest your body, while the mind and the heart will be delighted 
at the contemplation of the splendid paintings in the 


METROPOLITAN ART MUSEUM, 


provided you had taken the precaution, when you were at the As¬ 
sociation Hall in 23d Street, to ask Mr. Putnam for a ticket of 
admission to these treasures of the easel. Then, make yourself 
happy for as long a time as you desire to-remain. These details 
have been made at length, to show New Yorkers, and those who 
may come to New York, how they may have motives to a kind of 
exercise in cpiite a number of conditions of the human body, 
which fail to be benefited by any other human instrumentalities; 
—exercises which bring into requisition the whole man, body, 
mind, heart, so renovating, so recreating to the body, so elevating 
and so enlarging to the mind; waking up the activities of brain 
and muscle and moral sentiments. 

If persons get tired of these home sights they can live them 
over again in taking to them their callers and guests and friends 
who come from a distance; for next best to enjoying a thing for 
one’s self is putting a friend in the way of its appreciation, under 
our own guidance. 


There is, it is true, not a New York everywhere, but there is 
no locality which has not its beauties, its places of interest; none 
that have not, at no great distance, something that is strange enough 
to excite inquiry or study, or amusement for one’s self and then for 
one’s friends, all inviting to muscular activities in the open air, 
with motives powerful enough to wake up, to amuse, to interest; 
and this is the kind of exercise which, if persevered in, if habit¬ 
ually taken day after day, when not actually raining, would save 
many an in-door, sedentary person from a life-long invalidism ; 
and would keep in enjoyable health others, who, without these ex¬ 
ercises, daily exercises in the open air, of a few hours, are destined 


29 


450 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


themselves to become invalids, and thus crowd their later years 
with endless complaints of bodily discomforts, of mental disqui¬ 
etudes; to blight the life, to blunt the heart, to dwarf the mind, 
and make of human existence a failure; to be counted nothing, 
at the great day of reckoning, but 

“wood, hay, stubble.” 

- C02 - 


HEALTHFUL WALKING. 


The easiest way to walk erectly is to have the chin a little 
above a horizontal line, as if looking at the top of a man’s hat or 
of a house in the distance, then an erect walk can be easily main¬ 
tained without an effort. 

If the shoulders are thrown back and the chest thrown forward, 
such a mental and physical effort is required that it becomes 
wearisome to maintain the position for five minutes, or it is for¬ 
gotten, and there is both a feeling and an appearance of awkward¬ 
ness as to make it altogether uncomfortable. But if the head is 
thrown up, and the arms carried behind, as in the cut, a natur¬ 
ally erect and easy gait would soon be acquired, having the effect 
to throw out and develop the chest, making way for the reception 
of a larger amount of pure, fresh air into the lungs at every 
breath, to say nothing of the greater manliness of look and inde¬ 
pendence of gait, which of themselves give a presence which at 
once commands attention and respect; but to see a person ap¬ 
proach you, stooping, shoulders thrown forward, with bowed 
head, gives an idea of cringing and supplication, inspiring at once 


a pity and contempt, while the influence which such a carriage of 
body has on the health is pernicious, only pernicious, and that 

continually. Walking briskly, with an excit¬ 
ing object or pleasurable interest ahead, is 
the most healthful of all forms of exercise ex¬ 
cept that of „ encouragingly remunerative, 
steady labor in the open air; and yet multi¬ 
tudes in the city, whose health urgently re¬ 
quires exercise, seldom walk when they can 
ride, if the distance is a mile or more. It is 
worse in the country, especially with the well- 






HEALTHFUL WALKING. 


451 



to-clo; a horse or carriage must be brought to the door, even if 
less distances have to be passed. Under the conditions first 
named walking is a bliss; it gives animation to the mind, it vivi¬ 
fies the circulation, it paints the cheek 
and sparkles the eye, and wakes up the 
whole being, physical, mental, and 
moral. We know a family of children 
in this city who, from the age of seven, 
had to walk nearly two miles to school; 
winter and summer; whether sleet, or 
storm, or rain, or burning sun, they made 
it an ambition never to stay away from 
school on account of the weather, and 
never to be “late;” and one of them 
was heard to boast that in seven years it 
had never been necessary to give an 
“excuse” for being one minute behind 
the time, even although in winter it 
was necessary to dress by gaslight. They 
did not average two days’ sickness in a 
year, and later they thought nothing of 
walking twelve miles at a time in the 

o 

Swiss mountains. Sometimes they 
would be caught in drenching rains, 
and wet to the skin ; on such- occasions 
they made it a point to do one thing, 

—let it rain,—and trudged on more 
vigorously until -every thread was dry 
before they reached home. 

There is no unmedicinal remedy 
known to men, of more value in the 
prevention of 


CONSTIPATION 


than a few miles’ joyous walking; let 
one follow it up a week—a walk of two 
or three miles in the forenoon, and as much in the afternoon— 
and except in rare cases, when a longer continuance may be 
made, the result will be triumphant; and yet nine persons out 












452 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


of ten would rather give a dollar a bottle for some nauseous 
drops or poisonous pills, than take the trouble to put in practice 
the natural remedy of walking. Nor is there an anodyne among 
all the drugs in the world, which is the hundredth part so effica¬ 
cious in securing refreshing, healthful, delicious 

GLORIOUS SLEEP, 

as a judicious walk. To be judicious it should not be continued 
so long as to make the person feel fagged out; this can be pre¬ 
vented by turning back when there is only a little tiredness; 
then after resting awhile on a sofa or bed, without closing the 
eyes, repeat the process, until in the course of the day several 
hours have been spent in the open air. Then after a light, early 
supper of a piece of bread and butter and a cup of tea, spend 
several hours in pleasant conversation or in games and amuse¬ 
ments, not retiring before ten o’clock, going to bed with warm 
feet, not sleeping any after five in the morning, yet not leaving 
the bed until you feel like it, and not sleeping a single moment 
in the daytime; and if in less than one week you cannot sleep 
deliciously for several hours unbrokenly, there is something the 
matter with the brain, and you are a candidate for the asylum, 
unless you take prompt and able medical advice. 

No drug or drop or pill or potion can by any possibility give 
refreshing, invigorating, healthful sleep; they all, without excep- 
. tion, aggravate the 

SLEEPLESSNESS ; 

and it is greatly to be deplored that such multitudes, especially 
in cities, are constantly resorting to the drug stores for something 
to make them sleep,—even young men and women. 

Nervous people are specially inclined to take something to 
make them sleep, with the effect to keep them nervous, and pre¬ 
vent refreshing sleep year after year, thus embittering their own 
and the lives of those in the same household. In all such cases 
there is an excess of nervous energy, and that too of an unhealth¬ 
ful character; there is too much steam aboard; the remedy is lo 
work it off in pedestrian excursions. 

In walking, as in all other vigorous forms of exercise, the ob¬ 
ject fails to be accomplished, sickness is induced, and not unfre- 


HEALTHFUL WALKING. 


. 453 


quently life itself is lost, for tlie want of taking a common-sense 
precaution to cool off slowly after the exercise, before a good fire 
in winter, in a warm room of seventy-five degrees in summer, 
with every window and door shut, no garment removed, even hat 
or glove for five minutes ; then shawl or overcoat by degrees, so as 
to cool off very slowly in the course of half an hour. It is no 
exaggeration to say that thousands of lives are sacrificed every 
year from failing to 

COOL OFF SLOWLY 

after the exercise has been taken. It is not so much going out of 
doors and being out of doors that gives people coughs, colds, and 
consumption, as the getting of these things after coming into the 
house, by cooling off too quickly. 

PHYSIOGNOMY OF WALKING. 

Observing people move slowly, their heads move alternately from 
side to side, while they occasionally stop and turn round. 

Careful persons lift their feet high and place them down flat 
and firm. Sometimes they stoop down, pick up some little ob¬ 
struction and place it quietly by the side of the way. 

Calculating persons generally walk with their hands in their 
pockets, and their heads slightly inclined. 

Modest persons generally step softly, for fear of being ob¬ 
served. 

Timid persons often step off from a sidewalk, on meeting 
another; and always go around a stone instead of stepping over it. 

Wide-awake persons “ toe out,” and have a long swing to their 
arms, while their hands shake about miscellaneously. 

Careless persons are forever stubbing their toes. 

Lazy persons scrape about loosely with their heels, and are first 
on one side of the walk, and then on the other. 

Very strong-minded persons have their toes directly in front of 
them, and have a kind of a stamp movement. 

Unstable persons walk fast and slow by turns. 

One-idea persons and very selfish ones toe in. 

Cross persons are not apt to hit their knees together. 

Fun-loving persons have a kind of halting movement. 

Good-natured persons snap their thumb and finger every few 


454 


11ALLS FAMILY DOCTOR . 




steps. Persons having a long stride, show directness, finnncs 
courage, and persistence. Such men force their way up 'to succes 
Persons walking with a kind of throwing the head bac 











































































































































HEALTHFUL WALKING . 


455 


ward, as if each touch of the heel on the ground jarred the head, 
are hasty, weak-minded, want firmness, and can always he bought. 

Cautious people, reliable people, take short steps and slow. 

Men who take long, quick steps, with a kind of lifting up of 
the body at each step, are fearless and honest, and expect to win 
success by their own unaided forces. 

Lighting on the heel means anticipation of obstacles, and a 
determination of purpose and a firmness of will which nothing 
can daunt. 

Stepping on the toes with a quickness and easy spring indicates 
activity, vitality, and confidence. 

A fashion of wearing higli-lieeled shoes was adopted by the 
ladies in 1871; by throwing the body forward, an attitude is re¬ 
quired, as seen in the cut, which makes an erect position in walk¬ 
ing impossible; too much weight is thrown on the toes, causing 
backache and spinal deformity and corns, but the discomfort of 
such a fashion will soon rectify itself. The handsomest, most 
graceful, and best shaped women in the world were the mulatto 
girls of Aew Orleans, before the war. In performing domestic 
errands thev carried the most of their burdens on their heads; 

%j * 

the author has seen them, year after year, carrying large baskets 
of fruit and clothing, and dry-goods packages on their heads 
through the crowded streets, with their hands at their sides, or 
gracefully deposited in their little apron pockets, or if the load 
was heavy, their arms were akimbo, it being rarely necessary to 
carry either hand to the head ; there was an instinct for balancing 
the head-load which was amazing. 

A hint is here given which is of incalculable importance in 
cases of spinal deformity: nothing will correct it sooner than to 
carry a weight on the head for half an hour at a time, several 
times a day, the very weight compelling the person instinctively 
to assume a position as nearly perpendicular as possible. The 
intelligent physician who chances to read this, or a parent who 
observes in any child a tendency to a crooked position while sit¬ 
ting in a chair, can readily turn the hint to an important practi¬ 
cal account. 

The mode of exercise shown by the girl with a book on her head 
and weights in her hands is, perhaps, more effectual, and will 
sooner give a graceful carriage than dumb-bells or any amount of 
calisthenic exercise; the same maybe said of the basket-girl. 


456 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


SITTING- POSITION. 



Tlie first chair on the left has a seat 
eight inches deep, compelling the sitter 
to an erect position, by throwing the 
lower portion of the spine against the 





back of the chair; the next 
cut shows a fifth leg, pre¬ 
venting the tilting back too 
far. The man with his feet 
on the table, and the one be¬ 
low him with the legs hang¬ 
ing over the arm of a chair 
show a very common posi¬ 
tion of gentlemen when 
alone. Charles O’Hara, of 
Hillsborough, Ohio, having 
given the public several val¬ 
uable agricultural inven¬ 
tions, has devised 
the best chair for 
the weary and fee¬ 
ble, as its back 
adapts itself to the 
spine of the sit¬ 
ter, whether in the 
position of ordinary 
conversation, or at 
the writing-desk; it 
affords a grateful 
support to the small 
of the back to all 
who sit much. 

The cut, showing 
the legs over the arm 


of the chair, is not an uncommon position, the other person above 


















































































































































































BLOODLESSNESS. 


457 

this cut, is more nearly in a horizontal position, and the heart has 
less labor in sending the blood to the extremities than if he were 
sitting bolt upright. Besides, the blood in the veins, in this posi¬ 
tion, is aided in getting back to the heart from the feet by gravity; 
hence a tired man in that position will get rested sooner than if 
he were sitting erect. The point is this, that a frequent change 
of position in reading, or in any sedentary employment, is better 
than “ sitting up straight,” and that, if very tired, the nearer we 
can get to a horizontal position, the sooner will we feel rested. 

ANEMIA 

is literally “ without blood,” and means that the blood is poor, 
thin, watery, hence the pale face and wan appearance ; there is no 
animation, no life. This condition is brought on by frequent 
bleedings from any part of the body, severe sickness, long pro¬ 
tracted disease, bad food, insufficient eating. It is often found in 
young girls; even the lips are pale sometimes, also the tongue. 
There is a general debility, feeble pulse, nervousness, and palpita¬ 
tion of the heart, attended generally with cold feet, costiveness, 
bad taste in the mouth of mornings, and very irregular appetite, 
with changing pains to any and all portions of the body. Such 
persons take cold very easily, are subject to chills from slight 
causes, have no stamina, no vitality, with the result very generally 
that they die early or soon fall into a consumptive condition. 

In all such cases ^prompt means should be taken to build up the 
general health, and these should be persevered in for weeks and 
many months, if necessary, for, to give up because there seems to 
be but little change, because the progress towards health seems 
slow, is to abandon the person to a premature death. 

The first thing to be done is to regulate the eating to thrice a 
day, nothing whatever between meals. For supper take a cup or 
two of hot drink, with some cold bread and butter, or bread crust 
broken into tea. 

Any drink at meals should be warm, with cold bread and but¬ 
ter, and a piece of fresh meat of any kind for breakfast, and noth¬ 
ing else. Dinner same, adding one vegetable and nothing else, no 
dessert unless ripe, raw fruit or berries or grapes. 

Great pains should be taken to keep the feet warm. (See “Cold 
Feet.”) If one plan does not do, after a systematic, persevering 


458 


nALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


effort, try another, remembering that until the feet become warm 
and remain so habitually, there is no real approach towards health. 
Cold feet show that the blood does not properly circulate through 
the system, and when that is the case there is no health, there is al¬ 
ways disease, which can be removed in one way only—vigorous and 
healthful circulation of the blood. Another essential requisite is a 
daily action of the bowels. To that end take a dose of liver pills 
once a month, and between times use castor oil or salts in the man¬ 
ner named in the article under the head of Liver Pill. But there is 
a far better way—walk or work in the open air during the fore¬ 
noon and also during the afternoon, beginning with one hour at a 
time, increasing ten minutes every day, until an amount of time is 
spent in this way which will secure not only a regular action of 
the bowels, but will get up a good appetite and a vigorous diges¬ 
tion. This plan will seldom fail if persevered in; if it fails, all 
others will fail. The point is to ride on horseback, or walk, or 
work in the open air enough every day to get really hungry. If 
spirits or liquors are taken in these frequent forms of disease, the 
result is to quicken the pulse and thus wear out the strength more 
rapidly, without adding any ingredient to the blood to increase it 
in quality or quantity. Ale and beer and porter sometimes seem 
to increase the flesh, but never by any means add to the real 
strength of the body, much less to improve the blood. Various 
preparations of iron are given in these bloodless, pale-faced con¬ 
ditions of the system, but there is only one safe, healthful, certain, 
and natural method of adding iron to the blood, and that is to sup¬ 
ply it through a vigorous digestion of substantial meat and bread; 
these will give all the iron which the blood requires. Warm feet, 
regular bowels, a good appetite—these are all important, they are 
essentials, they will cure, if cure is possible, if several hours are 
given to exertive exercise in the open air, every day, rain or 
shine. 


-- 

ACACIA 

Means sharp, as it is the sharp spines in certain trees and 
shrubs, from these a gum exudes, called gum arabic, useful in 
some forms of irritation, such as tickling in the throat, or inflamed 
condition of the bowels. Powdered gum arabic has been known 
























































































































































































































































































































































































PRIMITIVE PLOUGHING. 


459 


to stop certain bleedings when other things failed, by simply 
sprinkling or dredging it over the parts. 

- U72 - 

A CHILLIS TENDO, 

* 

The great muscle; the calf of the leg narrows off until it be¬ 
comes a band attached to the heel, enabling us to lift the foot 
and heel; sometimes from jars, or strains, or jumping from 
heights it is torn in part from its place, and causes intense suf¬ 
fering. The great point—as in all other strains or sprains, for 
they all mean that the tendon has been dragged or torn—is to 
keep the part cool, either by applying leeches to draw up the 
blood, or, which is better, let a stream of cold water fall on the 
part until the pain has subsided; the water carries off the extra 
heat of the inflammation, it cools the part, in addition to this the es¬ 
sential of cure is absolute rest until the parts are perfectly restored, 
regrown to the spot from which the tendon was more or less drag¬ 
ged. Many persons protract the cure of sprains for months and 
even years, by getting resprained, by use of the part when it 
was only partially healed. (See Strains and Sprains.) To facili¬ 
tate and hasten the cure, eat moderately and regularly, and keep 
the bowels free and feet warm. 

-- c&> - 

PRIMITIVE PLOUGHING. 

Tiie most available form of exercise to the masses of men is 
ploughing, and it is a most perfect form as a means of restoring 
health; because 

First. It keeps the person out of doors. 

Second. The exercise is moderate and continuous. 

Third. It can be left off at any time, as there is no hurry. 

Fourth. It need not exhaust the strength, and there is no occa¬ 
sion for hurry. 

Fifth. The hours of exercise and the time of its duration can 
be arranged to meet the wants of each case. 

Sixth. It can be always made useful and remunerative enough 
to encourage and to keep the mind away from the ailments of the 
body. Under these conditions, for men there is no form of exercise 
which combines with it so many advantages, and is infinitely pre- 






460 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR . 


ferable to going to sea or on long journeys abroad and to the South, 
where other invalids congregate,and where palefaces and distressed 
countenances are met at every turn, and the sound of the sepulchral 
cough is heard at every street corner, or rings like the knell of 
death through hall and corridor, and hut and hovel, wherever the 
feet are turned. The iron ploughshare is of modern invention ; 
in primitive times wood was used, and is met to this day in east¬ 
ern countries. The cut illustrates the kind of plough which it 
may be supposed Cain and Abel used when they were boys, just 
outside of Paradise. 


- <072 - 

WHAT SHALL I DO? 

Is often the anxious inquiry of persons who really do not require 
any medicine to restore them to health, needing only a reasonable 
amount of out-door exercise. It is the inquiry of many who are in 
that desperate condition which cannot be improved by medicine, 
for medicine has lost its power; it is the inquiry of that other 
large class whose only hope of restoration to health and happiness 
is in spending a large portion of every day in the open air. As 
has been before insisted upon, work and exercise, especially in 
the open air, tend to improve the health, but their beneficial ef¬ 
fects are greatly intensified if the work is encouragingly remune¬ 
rative, or is deeply interesting. The mass of mankind are too 
poor to be able to “ keep up,” if they are not earning something 
every day; but to be earning nothing, and to be on expenses be¬ 
sides, must necessarily have a most depressing effect on the mind, 
and always retards improvement. The city physician is often 
called on to aid in putting the sick in the way of recovery. But 
there are multitudes who do not know how to do anything well 
enough to earn wages; yet it would seem that almost any one 
could rent or purchase a single acre of land near a railroad sta¬ 
tion which was within an hour or two of some large city. It 
may therefore be profitable to know what may be done .with an 
acre of land, which will give moderate exercise and yield a rev¬ 
enue worth working for. The Florida yield is about the same ; 
in California seventy orange-trees will grow on one acre, each 
v el li fi teei died clances, or a hundred and five thousand 

oranges, which, at a cent apiece, is a thousand and fifty dollars. 




WHAT SHALL I HO? 


461 


In Los Angeles, one tree seventeen years old yielded twenty- 
eight hundred oranges. If from the seed, a tree will grow in a 
dozen years, yielding tw T o thousand oranges at from $15 to $55 per 
thousand; sixty trees to an acre would yield a handsome profit; 
one orchard of nine acres yielding its owner eight thousand dol¬ 
lars a year. 

An old man of eiglity-six years, who wanted something to do, 
writes, I planted an acre with corn, beans, peas, and other vege¬ 
tables and tended the whole myself, having only my hand and 
hoe, yielding four bushels of beans, twenty-four of corn, thirty of 
potatoes, besides a good supply of sweet corn, cucumbers, squashes, 
cabbages, beets, onions, parsnips, carrots, strawberries, raspberries, 
gooseberries, currants, tomatoes, and grapes. Fifty apple-trees to 
an acre, at a thousand apples to each—and some yield four thou¬ 
sand—would be a profitable care. The .Ramie plant is a kind of 
nettle with such a silken fibre, that it is not impossible that it will 
one day be as valuable as cotton. It is propagated from the root. 
One planting will last three or four years. California yields 
two crops in a year. In April, 1872, the product of one acre yield¬ 
ed in England three hundred and fifty dollars. 

The cultivation of the ground has many important advantages; 
it compels you to be out of doors every day, this involves exercise 
and the breathing of a pure air; it' is steady work, no need of 
hurry or fatigue, and leisure exercise is worth more than all others. 
You can work and rest as suits the strength of the body, and there 
is a quiet and repose about it which admirably adapts it to build¬ 
ing up the health and strength of both body and mind; exercise 
without end or aim, except as a means of health, is a doleful pen¬ 
ance at best. Half a year’s amusement might be derived from 

CULTIVATING FLOWERS. 

The very sight of what is beautiful tends to purify the heart 
and elevate the character; while the cultivation of flowers di¬ 
rectly promotes physical well-being. The following list of flower¬ 
ing plants affords a succession of bloom throughout the season, and 
will be regarded with interest by every intelligent reader in the 
beautiful May. In this connection may be premised a striking 
exemplification of the instinct of plants, by the naturalist Iloare, 
who placed a bone in the strong, dry clay of a vine border. The 


4C3 


IIALLS FAMILY DOCTOR 


vine sent out a leading or tap-root, directly through the clay ; the 
main root threw out fibres, but when it reached the bone it en¬ 
tirely covered it by degrees with the most delicate and minute 
fibres like lace, each one sucking at a pore in the bone, like a lit¬ 
ter of pigs at their dam, as she lies down on the sunny side of 
the farm-yard. On this luscious morsel of a marrow-bone would 
the vine continue to feed as long as any nutriment remained to be 
extracted. What wonderful analogies there are running through 
the various forms of animal and vegetable creation, to stimulate 
curiosity, to gratify research, and, finally, to lead our contem¬ 
plations from nature, in a feeling of reverence “up to nature’s 
God.” 

As to the vine spoken of by Iloare, it is worthy of remark that 
the root went no further than the bone, which it seemed to have 
literally smelt out, as would a hungry dog, in passing. 


FLOWERING SHRUBS. 

Pink Mezereon. 

Dwarf double-flowering Almond. 
Double Purple Tree Peony. 

Chinese White Magnolia. ( Conspicua .) 
Soulange’s Magnolia. 

Sweet-scented Magnolia. (M. glauca.) 
White Fringe Tree. 

Garland Deutzia. (I). Scabra.) 
Broad-leaved Laburnum. 

Rose Acacia. 

Tartarian Tree-Honeysuckle, red and 
white. 

Double White Hawthorn. 

Double Pink Hawthorn. 

Fragrant Clethra. 

Oak-leaved Hydrangea. 

Venitian Sumac or Purple Fringe. 
Buffalo Berry (male and female). 
Siberian Lilac. 

The Althea or Hibiscus Syriacus. 
Colutea Arborescens. 

Chinese double-flowering Apple. 

Deutzia Gracilis. 

All the Spireas. 

Snowball (common though beautiful). 
Dwarf Dogwood. 

Pyrus Japonica. 


Euonymus (burning bush). 

Forsythia. 

Philadelphus (Mock Orange). 

Symphora. 

Wiegeila Rosea. 

PERENNIAL PLANTS. 

Dicentra Spectabilis. 

Plumbago. 

White and Pink Phlox. 

[There are from twenty to thirty com¬ 
mon Phloxes, many of them dwarf, of 
beautiful colors, and much admired. ] 

Companulas. 

Chrysanthemums (summer and fall). 
Double Hollyhocks. 

Paeonias (white and red). 

Iris (pale blue, very fragrant). 

Sweet William. 

Valeriana. 

Persian Lilac. 

CLIMBING SHRUBS AND VINES. 

Some of the finest and best climb¬ 
ing shrubs are the following : — 

Large flowering Trumpet Creeper. 
Queen of the Prairie Rose. 





THE MICROSCOPE. 


403 


Chinese Glacine (Wistaria). 

Double Purple Clematis. 

Clematis Flamula, Florida and Siboldii. 
Monthly Fragrant Honeysuckle. 
Chinese Twining Honeysuckle. 

Yellow Trumpet Honeysuckle. 

Scarlet Trumpet Honeysuckle. 

Japan Evergreen Honeysuckle. 

Chinese Bignonia. 

Virginia Creeper. 

Periwinkle (as a creeper for shady 
places). 

CLIMBING ROSES. 

Queen of the Prairies. 

White Multifiora. 

Laura Davoust (half-hardy). 

Baltimore Belle. 

TRAILING ROSES. 

F ellenberg. 

Glory of Rosamond. 


Monstrosa. 

Baron Prevost. 

Noisette Superba. 

La Reine. 

MONTIILY ROSES. 

Hermosa, pink. 

Cels, blush and pink. 
Devoniensis, creamy white. 
Archduchess, pure white. 

Giant of Battles, crimson. 

Louis Philippe, red. 

Souvenir, blush. 

Luxemborg, buff. 

Queen of Lombardy, deep rose. 
Saffrana, yellow buff. 

Daily, light pink. 

Prince Albert. 

Garibaldi. 

Triomphe d’Exposition. 
Monthly Cabbage. 


zoo 


THE MICROSCOPE, 

♦ 

Discovered by Janssen, in 1619, meaning the “ looking at small 
things,” is a contrivance which enlarges an object to many times 
its natural size, thus enabling the eye to see what otherwise could 
not be noticed. One of these useful little instruments, magnify¬ 
ing to the extent of a thousand diameters, that is, making a thing 
look a thousand time§ larger than it really is, may be obtained for 
two or three dollars, and be a source of amusement, instruction, 
and wonder to a whole family gathered around the tire of a win¬ 
ter’s night, affording a varied and most lively entertainment to a 
whole household, especially the little ones, filling the mind with 
wonder and admiration of the wisdom and power of Him who 
“hath done all things well.” 

The family which makes the fireside attractive is the family in 
which sons and daughters grow up loving and loved, saved from 
the contaminations of the street, and from the corrupting influ¬ 
ences of l"ad associations after nightfall; for that is the time when 
the young are most readily tempted to go astray, as if the dark¬ 
ness covered their wrong-doings from human view. 






464 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


The evening is the best time to use a microscope, as with a 
lamp, or gas, or candle, the light can be better diiected. to the 
exact spot where it is wanted. It is a delightful thing, before a 
winter’s tire, to have the little ones gather around, with incpiii ing 
looks and wondering eyes and brightening countenances, so full 
of joyous expectancy; and then how easy to lead the mind up¬ 
ward, in loving admiration of Him who made all things, from an 



insect’s eye, or a snowflake, to the sun in his glory! 

The accompanying cut 
represents the eye of an 
ant. It does not move 
around, or from side to 
side, nor even turn its 
little head to advise it 
of coming danger. The 
eye is firmly fixed, and 
no more moves than the 
nose or ears; but in each 
eye there are multitudes 
of eye-balls, which face 
every possible direction, 
ant’s eye magnified. and every image which 

comes within their scope is perfectly portrayed and seen, whether 
it be a particle of dust brushed from a feather, to a man or a 


mountain. 

By this magical instrument, when of great power, insects of 
various sizes may be seen in the hollow of a grain of sand. 
Every hair of the head is found to be liollcfw, and covered with 
scales, like those of a fish ; indeed, these can be felt by drawing 
one between the finger and thumb-nail the wrong way, for, in one 
direction, with the scales, the hair is smooth. Our very bodies 
are covered with scales, a hundred of which can be covered by a 
single grain of sand from the sea. Look at a butterfly’s wing and 
its beautiful hues. Every bright spot is made of uncounted little 
feathers, while the mould on a crust of bread looks like a luxuri¬ 
ant forest. The smallest mite will take a hundred steps in a sec¬ 
ond. Every leaf is fed upon by millions of miniature cattle, 
while a drop of stagnant water has uncounted monsters wriggling 
in it with the freedom of a whale at sea. But it is well to know 
that running streams'and deep wells contain none of these; they 





THE MICROSCOPE. 


465 


are too cold for their life, and the dashing of the waves and the 
dancing of the waters over pebbly beds are too boisterous for their 
frail frames. 


THE BEAUTIFUL SNOW! 

so pearly white, so soft and feathery, and to us appearing to be of 
one universal sameness, when seen under the microscope, as freshly 
fallen from the sky, is composed of many flakes, yet every flake 
is different from every other. Of the myriads which fall of a 
winter’s night, no two have yet been found to be alike, except in 
one amazing point: there is not one which by any chance has a 
jagged edge, all have a wonderful evenness and regularity. 
Every single flake is composed of perfect crystals, and of the 
most beautiful and varied forms imaginable, as seen in the fol¬ 
lowing cut. 



SNOWFLAKES, MAGNIFIED. 


In examining the sting of a bee, the point a is arrow-shaped, 
formed like the barb of a fish-hook, easy to enter, but the draw ing 
of it out tears the flesh, and aids in the hurting; but at the same 
instant through the -sting, which is hollow, the poison from the 
little sacs, b, b , c, is injected, and constitutes the 
30 • - 

















4G6 


HALL'S FAMLLT D OCT OH. 


VENOM OF THE BITE. 

On the same principle are formed the bill of the mosquito, and 
in part the fang of the rattlesnake, which is hollow ; and the sac 
of poison being at the bottom of it, is pressed, and the poison 
makes its way into the wound which the fang made, there to 
rankle and rage and destroy. 



In the foot of a fly the microscope shows a single hair as large 
as the foot itself, with the marvellous little pads, or soles, which 
enable it to cling to the ceiling, with its head downwards, all un¬ 
conscious of its doing anything wonderful. The end of the bee’s 



FLY’S LEG AND FOOT. 



tongue is seen at a. It is through this that the substance is drawn 
up fiom the flowers, which is made into honey and wax, the other 
parts seeming to be used in steadying the little worker’s body 
while exploring the flowers. 

The uses to be made of the microscope in the detection of dis- 











GLORIOUS GOOD HEAL TIT. 


467 


ease, or in the investigation of diseased conditions of the system, 
have not yet been determined, as microscopy is still in its infancy. 
Suffice it to say, that insects, cells, and all forms of vegetable and 
animal life are found everywhere, in the body and out of it, in the 
corners of the eye, in the ear, the nose, in fact, almost everywhere 
in the 

HOUSE WE LIVE IN, 


a worm for almost every mechanism of the system, making it a 
pasture-field on which to graze, to flourish, and to thrive. 

Of late it has become cpiite a common thing to examine the dis- - 
charges connected with various forms of disease; and each one, 
thus far, seems to have abounded in a specific form of life, either 
vegetable or animal, forms of amazing fecundity, paralleled only in 
the process of fermentation, as in the making of a loaf of bread. 
One kind of life cell has been found in the discharges of 


CHOLERA, 


which begin to rise in the air the instant of leaving the body, and 
is thus drawn into the lungs, and swallowed into the stomach, 
giving the disease to others, to work the wise behests of the Infi¬ 
nite One, or else to be 

THE SCAVENGERS 

of creation, to remove from human sight all that can offend, as 
the maggot eats up the carrion, then dies, and passes itself into 
the impalpable dust. 

Briers and thorns were sent into the garden and the grain-field 
and the orchard, to compel man to make his bread by the sweat 
of his face, and thus earn for himself also an immeasurable hap¬ 
piness,—the happiness of a hearty appetite, a vigorous digestion, 
delicious sleep, and 

GLORIOUS GOOD HEALTH ! 


We do not yet know but that even the infinitesimal insect 
which multiplies into a million in a minute to propagate disease, 
if it finds dirt to propagate it in, was intended to be the thorn of 
the animal world, to compel man, the master, to such v atch u - 
ness and industries as would banish from his person, his chambei, 
his dwelling, his garden, his fields, and his pastures, every possible 


46 3 


IIALDS FAMILY DOCTOR 


thing which could harbor a disease-producing worm, or which by 
any possibility could afford filth enough for it to feed upon for a 
minute. 

THE BLUE-BOTTLE FLY 

deposits eggs in ulcers and sores, and at the various outlets of the 
human body, flesh-wounds, etc., and these eggs are developed into 
worms in a few hours. By cleanliness and care such a result will 
be avoided. 


COURAGE LUMPS, 

given under the impression that they result from grossness of 
body, or are connected with the transformation period from youth 
to manhood. They are often a disfigurement, as well as a source 
of mortification. Either let them alone, or when ripe, yellow at 
the top or centre, put a thumb-nail on either side, press inwards 
and upwards, and a whitish, cheesy, thread-like worm comes 
away. 

MEASLES AND SCARLET FEVER 

have associated with their appearance a living germ, as also the 
common 

ITCH. 

But whether they cause disease or were intended to prevent it, 
one point is clear, that it is man’s duty, in either case, to prevent 
the filth which feeds them, or to remove them with the filth in 
which they appear, and thus be perfectly clean in his person, in 
his habitation, and in all his surroundings, that there be no un¬ 
seemly object anywhere in sight, it being a condition of health 
of body and purity of mind and heart that the man himself 
should be pure and clean as the precedent of his being good, and 
made fit for angelic associations. 

It is worth having the itch, to enjoy the bliss of scratching ; 
there is nothing like it: why? You feel as if you could dig your 
nails an inch deep into the flesh. If, however, you get tired of 
scratching, take grease, and you will soon be well. The books 
tell us that the common itch is occasioned by the bite of a living 
thing, so small that it takes a hundred microscopes to see one of 
them. But the peculiarity of these little insects is, that they are 
full of noses. A man has only one nose ; and if you plug it up 
with putty, he will die in five minutes, if you can only induce 


THE HAND. 


460 


him to keep his mouth shut; if he don’t, putty it, too. So as to 
the itch insect, you have only to putty him up ; if, however, you 
are in a hurry to get w T ell, keep the itching parts covered with 
sweet oil, and every one of them will be smothered to death. 

-- 

THE HAND 

Is not only the great helper of man, his defence as well as his 
support and protector, but it is liis ornament and the index of his 
position in society. A hard hand is the sign of an honest worker, 
of one who had rather toil for a scanty living than steal for the 
privilege of idleness. A soft hand shows that its owner is of 
gentle birth, at least is not the slave of labor; while the 
soiled hand proves that its owner is uncultivated, unrefined. 
To soften the hands, mild white soaps should be used, because 
they are not strong of alkali, which makes the skin harsh, but 
they are the purest, the freest from all foreign substances. The 
old Windsor soap is the* worst for the hands; for its native ingre¬ 
dients of pulverized bone sometimes wound and poison the skin, 
especially of the face. After each washing, some glycerine 
should be rubbed into the skin, worked into it by the wringing of 
the hands, especially on the back of them. This keeps the skin soft; 
the softening is greatly expedited if, the last thing at night, they 
are well washed with white soap and warm water, then rinsed in 
cold water until the skin is thoroughly divested of all the soap; 
then wipe with a soft cotton cloth ; next, just before retiring into 
bed, put a quarter or half of a teaspoonful of sweet oil into the 
palm of one hand, lay the other palm on it, rub them back and 
forth and then wring the hands like a washing operation, so as to 
convey the oil into every pin-point of the surface of the skin ; put 
on a pair of old gloves—kid is the best. Repeat this operation 
every night until the object is accomplished. For the cure of 
chapped hands and cracked fingers it is the simplest, speediest, 
cheapest, and most effective ever known hitherto. If it is desired 
to whiten the hands in addition to softening them, you have only 
to wear gloves all day as well as all night. 

If the hands are stained with ink, or fruit, or other things, hold 
them in a bowl of water into which five grains of oxalic acid has 




470 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


been put. Stir it well, keep the hands in for five minutes, then 
wash them well in an abundant supply of cold water; or put ten 
drops of oil of vitriol in a pint of water, in a china or earthen 
bowl, a teaspoon level-full of saleratus, and stir and soak the hands 
in it five minutes, and then wipe dry, not using soap for half a day 
afterwards, as it returns the stain. 

The hands are made harsh and sore in winter by frequent wash¬ 
ings with soap and water, especially if the soap is not thoroughly 
rinsed off, or when the person is around the fire a great deal and 
has to handle cold metal, as iron cooking-utensils; this may be 
antagonized to a considerable extent by sleeping with greased 
hands in gloves, and wearing these as much as possible in the day¬ 
time. Even twenty-four hours of such wearing makes a striking 
difference in the comfort of their feeling. 

• It is an excellent plan, under all circumstances, to give the 
hands a good washing every night, before going to bed, using 
soap and water. In very cold weather, it is better to wash the 
hands but once a day, if the fingers are at all inclined to get sore 
or crack ; or after each washing, rub into them a few drops of 
glycerine or sweet oil—no preparation in existence answers so 
good a purpose as the former article, to prevent and to cure chap¬ 
ping; or have finely-powered starch always at hand, and after 
each washing, on putting the hands in any liquid, wipe them, and 
rub some of this starch-powder well into every part of the hands 
and fingers. It at once cools and soothes and softens the hands, 
and gives immediate relief to their smarting; or, to melted tallow 
add some powdered camphor, with a few drops of oil of almonds, 
and let it cool. There are various preparations for this purpose, 
but glycerine is so easily had, and is so mild and otherwise unob¬ 
jectionable, that it is not necessary to add to the list. When the 
hands have been blistered by sweeping the floor, or in any other 
way, let some melted tallow fall into cold water, gather it, then 
mix it with any kind of spirit or alcohol, and rub it well into the 
blistered parts; it is a most admirable relief and cure for blis¬ 
tered feet, if rubbed well into the soles. 

The hands may be softened, whitened, and otherwise beautified, 
by mixing four parts of the yellow of an egg and five parts of 
glycerine, and rubbing them well together in a mortar with a 
pestle. Hub it well into the hands after each washing. It will 
keep for years, and is an admirable preparation for all bruises of 
the skin. 


FINGER-NAILS. 


471 


The paste of sweet almonds is very good to soften the hands 
and arms, it makes the skin elastic; and, where hardened by 
labor, the incrustations are soon removed. 

Sometimes persons have a very ugly soreness in the hands in 
cold weather; the remedy is, to keep them warm all the time, 
indoors as well as out, and use the glycerine and egg preparation 
freely. If there is any smarting with the soreness, use the starch- 
mixture. If ^he hands are cold, and otherwise uncomfortable, 
when you get into the house dip them in tepid water. This is 
much better than holding them to a hot fire, stove, or register. 

Many stains of the hands and skin are promptly removed by 
keeping on hand a preparation made by putting a table-spoonful 
of salt of lemons or tartaric acid into ten table-spoons of water; rub 
it well into the stained part; or, if time presses, take the powder 
of the articles above named and rub it well into the parts after 
washing them, moistening a little with water. 

FINGER-NAILS 

should be trimmed once a week with toilet scissors. The use of a 
penknife makes one shiver to see. They should not be trimmed to 
the quick; there should be a rim left of five or six hairs’ thick¬ 
ness. It is better to have the outer edges of the nail a little longer, 
otherwise the skin may grow up and spread over the nail, or be¬ 
come sore. The nails grow faster in warm weather than in cold ; 
they grow by pushing outwards, and are renewed, grow ont their 
whole length about every four or five months, and, in doing so, 
they sometimes drag the skin at their roots along with the nail, 
stretch it more and more until it snaps, making nail-tags, which 
sometimes are very uncomfortable, become sore and much in¬ 
flamed ; this can be prevented by taking a soft towel every time the 
hands are washed, and push back the skin while it is yet soft, or it 
may be done with the finger or thumb nail; do it gently and slow¬ 
ly, and do not push it too far; if, by neglect, it has been dragged 
forward and the thumb-nail is not strong enough, take an ivory pa¬ 
per-cutter, or next best is a piece of money; by all means avoid 
the use of a knife about the finger-nails; some persons are seen 
continually scraping the ends of the finger-nails with a penknife, 
some have a little file, but neither leaves the edge of the nail any¬ 
thing like as smooth as the use of sharp toilet scissors and a day 
or two’s wear. To remove the gatherings under the finger-nails 


472 


BALLS FAMILY DOCTOR . 


with the sharp point of a penknife is a barbarism ; it makes tliQ 
nail grow thicker and less delicate, and often wounds the tender 
skin under, leaving painful inflammations. It is still more injuri¬ 
ous to scrape the nails with a penknife at the j unction of skin and 
nail—it causes those ugly white splotches which are so often seen 
on the nails, and prevents that even and regular appearance of the 
skin at those points which adds so much to the delicacy of the fin¬ 
gers. 

The indecent habit of biting the finger-nails need only to be al¬ 
luded to to prevent any one from repeating it, as it is really eating 
the dirt which collects under them. If at any time children get 
into the habit, make them dip into wormwood tea, several times a 
day, the ends of their fingers—a very good plan also for prevent¬ 
ing nursing children from sucking their thumbs. The best means 
of keeping the finger ends delicately clean is the frequent use of 
soap and water; if, on occasion, these are not to be had, by no 
means use a knife or any metallic point. Employ a piece of sharp¬ 
ened stick or wood, but soap and water are best. 



CURVATURE OF THE SPINE. 


Induced by an erroneous sitting posture, 
as sideways, or one shoulder lower than 
the other. The scrofulous are most lia¬ 
ble to it. 



THE TIE TO STOP A BLEEDING ARTERY 



THE HAND OB ARM BATH. 
























PARENTS AND CHILDREN. 


473 


% 


PARENTS AND CHILDREN. 

It is a very rare thing to find a parent turning against a child, 
except in old age, connected with a mild form of insanity; but it is 
far too common to find animosities in the minds of children, ex¬ 
cited generally by trifling circumstances, arising from misapprehen¬ 
sion or hasty judgments, and cherished for weeks and months 
and years, settling finally into a kind of impatient hatred or con¬ 
tempt. At other times these animosities have arisen from the 
innate ugliness of disposition of the child; so groundless, so un¬ 
reasonable in its character, as to merit the pity rather than the 
resentment of a third person. 

One of the most beautiful of all moral exhibitions on this 
planet is a whole family of parents, sons, and daughters living 
together in affectionate unity ; where nothing is ever seen by any 
chance but kindness, courtesy, deference, and self-abnegation; a 
habitual preference in favor of the others—that kind of prefer¬ 
ence which lovers show, where the pleasure is in proportion to 
the self-denial; where it is no effort, and where there is not an 
instant’s delay in yielding the best places and the best things, or 
in doins: a service which can in the least aid another. 

And when it is considered how short a time any family can re¬ 
main together under the same roof, how rare a thing, indeed, that 
death has not already made a gap, and how he may make one 
any day, when it will be too late forever to atone for any wrong 
done, for any hurting of the feelings, especially under a misap¬ 
prehension; any wounding unnecessarily of a loving mother’s 
heart, or father’s, or brother, or sisters, a wounding which, when 
they are dead and gone, like a Parthian arrow, flies backward, 
poisonous and rankling, never to be extracted, except by the great 
doctor—death ! Well would it be for the happiness of many a 
heart to make it a study from this hour—the habitual study— 
how to live in the family so as never to be the cause of a heart¬ 
burning ; how best to avoid the planting of those remorses which 
are thick this very hour all over the world, expressing themselves 
thus: u O ! what would I not give to have them back one single 
minute, to let them know the bitterness of my repentance! ” 


474 


HALL'S FAMLLY DOCTOR. 


FRENZY. 

“‘Are you ready for me! have you got the money?’ and he 
went on heaping on me the most bitter taunts and opprobrious 
epithets; while speaking he drew a handful of papers from his 
pockets, saying: ‘ I got you into your office, and now I’ll get you 
out.’ I cannot tell how long these threats and invectives lasted. 
At first I kept interposing, trying to pacify him. But I could 
not stop him. Soon, my own temper was up. I forgot every¬ 
thin'? but the sting of his words. I was excited to the highest 
degree of passion; and in my fury I seized a small stick of wood 
and dealt him an instantaneous blow, with all the force that pas¬ 
sion could give it. I did not know or think or care where or how 
hard I should strike, nor what would be the effect. He fell in¬ 
stantly dead! I then cut up his body, hid a portion of it, and 
burned the remainder in a furnace.” This was the confession of 
a highly educated man, just before he suffered the ignominious 
penalty of murder; the murder of the best friend he had on 
earth-! It was done in an ecstasy of passion, in a “ phrenzy,” 
from a Greek word phrene , which means the mind ; or a state of 
the brain in which the mind is excited to a pitch which places it 
beyond all human control; it is a momentary madness. The 
lesson sought to be impressed by this narration is the danger of 
cherishing any mental excitement; and the consequent duty of 
studying how, in all possible ways, to keep the mental faculties 
in a uniformly calm, quiet, and deliberate condition. In the in¬ 
cident above, it was proven that half an hour before, the murderer 
had closed a philosophic lecture; and as he stepped from the 
rostrum into his own room was met, as above detailed, by a rich, 
remorseless creditor. In a very few minutes the calm philoso¬ 
pher was transformed into an ungovernable fury, by the utterance 
of a dozen taunting words; and had no more control over him¬ 
self than an infant over an already sped thunderbolt. Cases are 
given in standard medical works, where the mental excitement 
has reached such an intensity, that the individual has fallen dead 
on the instant; even greater calamities are recorded ; the loss of 
the mind forever, and the hapless victim has raved and raged in 
impotency behind the bars of a maniac’s cell for the remainder 
of a long life; a fate surely worse than death ! Sometimes the 


FRENZY . 


475 


mind has gone out in eternal night with a fearful screech, com¬ 
bining the yell of the savage with the expressions of a demoniac. 

Lesser degrees of mental excitement have found vent in words 
and manner so expressive, as to excite an uncontrollable horror in 
the minds of some of the hearers, and wilted the hearts of others, 
to bud and bloom no more. A single word uttered by a child to 
a parent, in a moment of excitement; of a parent to a child ; of 
a husband to a wife, has many a time, before now, quenched 
every spark of human emotion and of human love, and a hate 
has sprung from the ashes, as virulent as the deadly upas, only to 
go out in the night of the grave. Human happiness, and life 
itself, then, often depends on a failure to control the mental 
emotion. An effort to practise such a control should be early 
made ; the earlier the better. And let it be particularly remem¬ 
bered, that the most effectual practical manner of doing this is 
to cultivate a habit of speaking in a low, slow, deliberate tone of 
voice, under all circumstances ; but whenever the circumstances 
are exciting, speak not a syllable until the thought, embodied in 
words, stands out plainly before the mind, “ My God and Father 
is here,” and then speak accordingly. The reason of this lies in 
the curious fact, that the mind lias a faculty of being persuaded 
to believe what the lips express, although every word is a false¬ 
hood ; for in the excited condition, that which is called imagina¬ 
tion runs riot, and makes the merest presumption appear for a 
moment to be an actual fact. This is an every-day occurrence in 
domestic life, where an excited husband or wife begins to talk of 
•a supposed insult, or deviation of a servant; and the more they 
talk the greater appears the aggravation. Header, keep ever 
before you the fear of “frenzy,” for in an unguarded hour, 
within any dozen minutes, it may lead you to utter a word against 
a heart that loves you, whose wound no tears can ever wash 
away ; may lead you to commit an act which will send you to 
the gallows or a mad-liouse! 

One of the surest and most infallible safeguards known to 
mortal man against life-long remorses, against the most withering 
mortifications, and in multitudes of cases against a fatal blow 01 
stab or shot is within the reach, within the compass of every in¬ 
telligent human being. In every excited conversation with 
friends, strangers, or kindred, wherever there is the slightest 
indication of impatience or anger, that very instant 


476 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. ' 


KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT. 

Ah you value your own self-respect, keep your mouth, shut, 

closely, resolutely. As you value the Divine assertion, “ that 

for every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account 

thereof in the day of judgment,” keep your mouth shut. As you 

value your life, your soul, your earthly happiness, say not a word, 

not one single syllable, and it will be a savior to you ; besides, it 

will be so keen a mortification to the others, that it will never be 
• ' 

forgotten. In a physical sense, keep your mouth shut habitually ; 
it compels you to draw deeper inspirations through the nose, 
reaching down to the very bottom of the lungs, thus creating an 
increased development which adds to the chances of a longer life, 
and gives a more erect gait, a more manly carriage. In going in¬ 
to a colder air, keep the mouth shut, thus sending all the air to 
the lungs through the head, warming it before it gets there, thus 
preventing many a chill and bad cold. 




VEKATEUM VIEIDE 

Is American hellebore, or poke-root. It has emetic qualities, in¬ 
creases the secretions, and has a powerful influence over the ner¬ 
vous system, indicated by faintness, somnolency, vertigo, headache, 
dimness of vision, and enlarged pupils. It will reduce the pulse 
thirty or forty strokes in a minute, when given in large doses. It 
is good for gouty, rheumatic, and neuralgic affections. An emetic 
dose is five or six grains of the powdered root, or one or two tea¬ 
spoonfuls of the tincture made by six ounces of the fresh root in 
a pint of whiskey, brandy, or alcohol. It is an excellent remedy in 
all febrile and inflammatory affections. 

Eight ounces of the dried root, soaked in eight ounces of 
alcohol for two or three weeks, gives a strong tincture; eight 
drops, repeated every three hours, with an additional drop at each 
dose, reduces the pulse very rapidly, especially in heart affections. 
If too much is taken by mistake, drink largely of whiskey or 
brandy. 




STRYCHNINE. 



FEEBLE INFANTS. 

Sometimes infants are born with the smallest possible amount 
of life; the first thing is to keep them warm, wrap them well in 
flannel and hold each foot in a large, warm hand; next feed 
them; when they cannot swallow from any cause, or at any age, 
put a tube into the mouth, far back on the tongue, then lay the 
head on the left thigh of the feeder, the body being in a horizon¬ 
tal position, press the infant’s cheeks, this naturally opens the lips 
some, put in a spoon half full of breast or other milk, as far back 
on the tongue as you can, and toss up the handle quickly; wait 
a while and the milk will gradually run down the throat without 
actual swallowing; do this at intervals of five minutes, several 
times, until the milk does not disappear from the mouth; repeat 
this feeding every three hours, night and day; in three or four 
days it will begin to suck, but in the intervals offer the breast, for 
although hungry, it may be too weak to cry. 


c cn 


STRYCHNINE, 

Or Nux Vomica, is obtained from the nut of the stryehnos tree 
of Ceylon, bearing rich orange-colored berries as large as a pip¬ 
pin-apple, containing flat round seeds near an inch in diameter, 
covered with silken asli-colored hair; this nut is of such a deadly 
poison that the natives give it the name of dog-killer. A nut 
contains about twenty grains, and is gradually learned to be eaten 
like opium, and with similar results; one nut generally lasts a 
week. It must be taken just before or just after having eaten, 
otherwise convulsions will follow. ' Strychnine, as we see it, is a 
whitish crystal, and is freely used by physicians, in small quanti¬ 
ties, in nervous affections chiefly. If too much is taken death 
may ensue in a few minutes; hence drink warm milk and water 
instantly, a teacupful every two minutes until very free vomit¬ 
ing, then take in water twenty grains of bromide of potash. 





478 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR 


FOMENTATIONS. 

Put three or four folds of flannel in a basin, pour on boiling 
water; when soaked, lay the flannel on the end of a towel, double 
the towel over and wring out the water, without burning the hands ; 
then lay this hot flannel over the part to be fomented, and a dry 
flannel overreaching the edges of the hot flannel; draw over the 
bed-clothing, and in five minutes renew the application, with an¬ 
other flannel ready as soon as the first is withdrawn; this may be 
repeated three or four times, not oftener, as a fomentation should 
not remain longer than fifteen or twenty minutes, thus debilitating 
instead of relaxing. Fomentations are jfleasant reliefs in a varie¬ 
ty of ailments, especially over the abdomen and chest, in hysteria 
attacks, suffocations, nervous and dyspeptic headaches, painful 
menstruation, sudden stoppage of the monthlies, asthmatic fits, 
convulsions, neuralgias, in great constipation, or difficulty of 
urination, nausea, vomiting, bilious or cramp colic. The fomen¬ 
tations should generally be large, covering the whole chest or 
abdomen in the severer forms of the above ailments, always 
remembering that, when the pains are sharp and severe, and the 
skin hot and pulse high, or other indications of decided inflam¬ 
mation, cold compresses are more appropriate, and hot fomenta¬ 
tions are injurious. 


- 050 - 

LONGEVITY OF MARRIAGE. 

The most carefully compiled statistics in the world, perhaps, 
are those of France, Belgium, and Holland. The latest figures 
show that 


Married men 

from 

25 

to 

30 

years, 

6 

in 

o 

o 

— > 

die amm 

Bachelors 

« 

25 

to 

30 

u 

10 

in 

1,000 

a 

Married 

a 

30 

to 

35 

(( 

7 

in 

1,000 

« 

Bachelors 

u 

30 

to 

35 

a 

18 

in 

1,000 

(( 

Married 

«, 

35 

to 

40 

u 

7 

in 

1,000 

(( 

Bachelors 

u 

35 

to 

40 

a 

13 

in 

1,000 

u 




DISINFECTANTS. 


479 


Thus clearly showing that from 30 to 35 nearly three times as 
many bachelors die as married men. 


Married women 

from 30 to 35 

years, 

9 die out of 1,000 

Unmarried 

a 

(( 

30 to 35 

u 

11 

a 

1,000 

Married 

a 

a 

50 to 55 

it 

16 

a 

1,000 

Unmarried 

a 

a 

50 to 55 

it 

26' 

a 

1,000 


But let it be remembered that girls who marry before twenty- 
one are more likely to die than those who do not marry, by nearly 
double; that is, seven unmarried girls die out of every thousand, 
while twelve married die yearly from the same number. Girls 
should not marry until twenty-one; young men should wait until 
twenty-five. 




DISINFECTANTS 

Are materials which take out of the air or clothing particles 
which, if breathed, would do injury to the human system ; these 
particles are antagonized or destroyed. The only perfect disinfec¬ 
tant is 

CLEANLINESS, 

so that there shall be no impurity in the air or filth in the cloth¬ 
ing, or that which is about us. The old-time method of destroy¬ 
ing the foul odor of a sick-room was to burn tar, or sprinkle sugar 
on burning coals. This antagonized nothing, it only overpowered 
the other odor, and both were in the room instead of one. The 
cheapest and most convenient material for taking away the smell 
of privies, sinks, and the like, is a pound of copperas, called sul¬ 
phate of iron, dissolved in a gallon of water; or, 

One pound of chloride of lime in a gallon of water, and thrown 
down or sprinkled over noisome places ; or, 

Half a pound of chloride of lime to a pint of water. 

For bed-pans or water-closets, one ounce of chlorinated soda to 
a quart of water; or, 

Fifteen grains of the crude permanganate of potassa to a quart 
of water; or, 




480 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


Take of carbolic acid, pure or impure, one ounce to a gallon of 
water. 

Clothing had better be burned, or if not, boiled three or four 
hours vigorously, or exposed to a dry heat of 250° Fahrenheit. 

Rooms can be ventilated by sprinkling chloride of lime in the 
fireplace or set in plates around, or one part of carbolic acid in a 
hundred parts of water, and sprinkled freely about; or, 

Dissolve one pound of litharge in seven pounds of nitric acid 
and two gallons of water. 

Powdered charcoal and fresh lime, half and half, make a most 
excellent absorbent. 

Filth heaps covered with fresh earth lose their noisomeness im¬ 
mediately. Powdered charcoal absorbs an immense amount of 
ill odor. 

The only true disinfectant is that which not only removes ill 
odors, but prevents the development of others, by arresting de¬ 
composition or fermentation. Sulphate of iron, for example, de¬ 
composes ammonia carbonate and sulpho-hydrate. Perchloride 
of iron precipitates albuminoid matters. Lime disinfects organic 
matters. Permanganate of potassium decomjDOses sulphuretted 
hydrogen, found in rotten eggs, rising from gutters, and blacken¬ 
ing door-plates and knobs; it destroys all organic matters, and 
acts on all fixed compounds of that class. Chlorate of potash 
disengages the chlorine of cesspools, forming new compounds* 
Chloride of lime parts with its chlorine, and decomposes most 
foul odors bv combining with their constituents and forming new 
compounds. Carbolic acid has the power to prevent miasms, and 
to that extent will arrest the progress of all epidemics depending 
on miasm—to which the reader should turn; and it may be w T ell 
regarded as the best, most perfect, and cheapest disinfectant 
known, it being the same essentially as creasote, and the smoke 
which preserves our hams from decay. 

-C<73- 

MOTHER AND INFANT. 

Of every two children born into the world, one dies before ten 
years have passed away. 

Of every three children born, one dies before five years. 




MOTHER AND INFANT 


4S1 


Of every five children born, one dies within a year. 

With intelligent care, instead of half of all the children who 
come into the world alive dying within ten years, four-fifths of 
them ought to live, and would live. That so many die is owing 
to the fact, in part, that mothers do not know soon enough that 
anything is the matter with their children until the time is past 
for them to be saved; but they can know, they ought to know; 
and it is proposed here to show the mother how to know promptly 
that her child is not \yell, and to determine at once what part of 
the body suffers or is threatened. 

If an infant is well its tongue is white, its eyes bright, its flesh 
plump and full, and its skin soft and coo] ; the breathing is regu¬ 
lar and easy and natural; when awake it is lively, cheerful, 
always disposed to laugh ; always pleased to be played with; and 
when asleep it rests quietly, the countenance is composed, and 
conveys an expression of happy enjoyment. 

SIGNS OF DISEASE. 

1. If the brow is contracted, there is pain in the head; if the 
head is hot, and turned restlessly from side to side, and the eyes 
stare, or there is a glare in them, there is inflammation, and 

WATER ON THE BRAIN 

is threatened. Relief must be promptly had, or the child is 
doomed. Put cold compresses or ice-pads on the head, and keep 
them there; compel the feet to keep warm, give a warm sitz-bath, 
and keep at these until the symptoms have abated, and the child 
sleeps quietly, or is disposed to feed or play. 

2. If the lips are apart, with a kind of gritting, there is pain 
in the belly, and most certainly it has been fed too much or too 
often. 

3. If the nostrils are drawn upwards and there is quick breath¬ 
ing, there is pain in the chest: something is the matter with the 
lungs. 

4. If there is a squinting in the eye, or bluish tint about the lips, 
and a kind of rotating movement of the eyeballs, convulsions 
will soon follow; there is indigestion ; and a warm bath with ice- 
pad on the head, and an enema or a warm-water emetic must be 
resorted to. 


31 


4S2 


BALDS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


5. If the eyes are unusually dull, or there is an unnatural 
quickness, with a pearly look of the whites, brain-disease is ap¬ 
proaching ; give an enema or a dose of castor-oil, and feed w T ith 
regularity. 

6. If a child usually sprightly, holding itself up straight, is 
noticed to drop the head and seem languid or sleepy, or if it 
usually goes about from chair to chair, or is disposed to climb, 
but suddenly shows no disposition to do anything but lie down 
on the floor, there is something wrong in the stomach or bowels. 

7. If there is crying and the legs are drawn up, there is indi¬ 
gestion, and the bowels are disordered. 

8. In health a child seldom carries the hands above the mouth; 
if that is observed repeatedly, there is something wrong in the 
head; the feet are cold, and they must be kept warm; if the 
bowels have not acted within ten hours, give an enema or a tea¬ 
spoon of castor-oil every hour until there is an action. 

9. A healthy child, especially if not over two years old, is often 
carrying the hand to the mouth; but if it stops at the throat, 
croup is most likely to be forming ; notice instantly if the feet or 
hands are cold, and turn to that article. 

10. In the first months of infancy, if the little one is well, it 
nurses, plays awhile, and then falls into a gentle, easy, good 
sleep ; if it does not, if it is restless, especially if it starts up in its 
sleep, or wakes and whines, there is disturbance in the brain, and 
it should be seen to that the bowels are regular, feet warm, and 
food given at proper intervals and of a suitable quality. 

11. The first passages of an infant are dark-colored, called 

THE MECONIUM l 

to bring this away is essential; if this is not done, the child will 
suffer. But the first milk secreted, called 

THE COLUSTRUM, 

* J 

acts as a purgative and carries the meconium before it; but if it 
does not come away oil must be given; sometimes warm water 
will answer; and in first confinements no milk appears sometimes 
for several days, hence any uneasiness of the first-born for the 
first few days may be caused by costiveness. 


MOTHER AND INFANT. 


483 


12. In health, young children go to sleep at once, and sleep 
quietly and soundly; if they are not well they do not lie 
down willingly at the regular hour for sleep, nor do they fall to 
sleep at once, nor do they sleep continuously; there are frequent 
turnings and changings and wakings or startings up, often in 
alarm—then the bowels or head are out of order. 

13. The dejections of a healthy child are yellowish and 
thicker than thick syrup, and are of uniform appearance, from 
three to four times a day ; less than two is costiveness. It should 
be rectified with an enema or castor-oil. More than three or 
four, and as thin as milk, and light-colored, show diarrhoea, and is 
rapidly debilitating; keep the belly warm, especially the feet and 
hands; do not feed at oftener than five hours’ interval, and let 
the food beboiled rice, sago, tapioca, exclusively, with a little boiled 
milk, until there is a reduction in frequency, and greater consisten¬ 
cy is manifested. If the stools are curdy or green or smell badly, 
or come out with considerable force, there is disease, to be 
treated as just named. 

14. Crying: young children never cry if all is well ; if an 
infant cries, it ds in suffering; each mother should notice the 
different cries of her child, for they mean different things; a cry 
from hunger is very different from a cry from hurt. A sticking 
pin causes a quick, instantaneous cry ; a string or fastening which 
is too tight .causes a fret at first, gradually increasing as the 
blood accumulates. The hunger cry does not come on suddenly, 
for the little thing begins to turn its head or face about, or makes 
motions with the tongue or lips; if it cannot find the breast it 
begins to make a noise, gets more and more impatient, and finally 
breaks out into a fierce, mad cry. The wisdom of the mother, 
then, should be called into requisition in deciding what cries 
mean, but in all cases attend to them; in a young infant it often 
means that a change of position is needed, or that it is too warm 
or too cold. A good plan always is, when a child is fretful, 
notice at once if the feet and hands are warm. If children are 
regularly fed as advised elsewhere, they will never cry for 
hunger, unless their food is not sufficiently nourishing. A tear¬ 
less cry means pain or suffering. When tears are abundant it is 
the cry of anger or ugliness, and should always he disregarded ; 
very young children will soon find out as to such crying that “ Its 
no' use knocking at that door any more.” 


•484 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


A moaning cry always indicates suffering, and should never be 
neglected. 

Breathing in a healthy child is regular, slow, easy, and full; in 
proportion as it is different in any case there is disease. If the 
breathing is loud or labored or quick or fitful, there is something 
wrong about the throat or lungs. 

15. Cough of any kind, from the slightest heck to a deep or 
suppressed hoarseness, should always command immediate atten¬ 
tion from its uniform connection with croup, which almost always 
comes on in the evening, seldom all at once ; generally for several 
days previous there have been slight symptoms of a cold, increas¬ 
ing every day, but an occasional cough ; the face a little flushed, 
a little more excitability than common; fitful temper, now a laugh, 
then a fret; it may be measles or it may be croup ; notice the feet 
at once, and if there is any dampness in the clothing; inquire 
particularly about the exposures of the day preceding ; the ques¬ 
tions to the nurse cannot be'too minute or searching; require spe¬ 
cific, decided answers. Usually an attack of croup comes on after 
the child has been asleep a while, and is likely to wake with a 
cough, different from an ordinary one ; it has a ring or whistle or 
wheezing with it, a dry cough, no loosening of phlegm is present. 
This first cough may not wake the child, but do not leave it for 
an instant; and if the second cough occurs, especially if the hand 
is carried to the throat, it is croup ; act accordingly. 

But let it be deeply impressed on the mother’s mind that if the 
child is kept comfortably warm for every second of its existence, 
especially the hands and feet; if it is fed at stated hours only, and 
has regular and abundant sleep, three-fourths of all the diseases 
of infancy and childhood would be swept from existence. 

-c<50- 

ERUPTIONS. 

TnE very instant a mother observes the skin of the child changed in 
appearance, even if it be for the space of a quarter of an inch, there 
is meaning in it the child is not well; there is bad blood, and Nature 
is endeavoring to cast the poison out of the system. One thing 
should never be done,—-put nothing on the eruption stronger than 




ERUPTION'S. 


485 


sweet oil or pure water; give the child an enema or a dose of cas¬ 
tor-oil, then let it have a warm hath, with a wet cloth or cap on 
the head, then adhere to regular feeding; keep the whole body, 
the feet, and the hands abundantly warm, so as to keep the erup- - 
tion out until it very gradually fades away. The sudden striking 
in of an eruption is a serious warning, and instant measures 
should he used to bring it back, either by a warm bath or by get¬ 
ting the little patient into a healthy perspiration. 

If the eruption be a swelling, especially if there is heat, apply 
cold compresses. 

That the intelligent mother may be more deeply impressed with 
the advantages which watchfulness and care and timely precau¬ 
tion have on the lives of infants and children—infancy reaching 
to two years, and childhood to eight;—it is only necessary to state 
that during the last century, of every twenty-four infants born in 
the poor-houses of London, twenty-three died the first year. When 
the attention of the public authorities was drawn to the subject 
more care was given to the little ones; they were fed regularly, 
dressed warmly, and provided with well-ventilated rooms to 
sleep in, with the result that immediately only one in six died 
instead of twenty-three out of twenty-four, showing clearly that a 
hundred children died every month unnecessarily from avoidable 
causes ; not only so, many infants are destroyed every year, even 
now, by intelligent mothers, from injudicious interference with 
Nature’s operations, and very often in the direction of tampering 
with various eruptions and sores, endeavoring to heal them up 
when they are Nature’s efforts to save the child. All those sores 
which break out about the head and ears during the whole teeth¬ 
ing of infancy are of this character; they should never be dried 
up, never washed with anything else than the purest, softest rain 
or snow water, generally cold; then apply cold water dressings, 
poultices, or compresses for a great part of the time ; meanwhile 
keep the whole skin of the body perfectly clean, washed well with 
water, or put in a bath twice a day, rubbed well with the hands 
during and after the bath; keep the bowels acting twice a day ; 
give several hours’ outdoor airing, two or three in the morning and 
one or two in the afternoon, with regular feeding, not oftener than 

four times in the twentv-four hours—three would be still better. 

%) 

The same treatment is specially applicable to the multitude of skin- 
diseases to which infancy and childhood are subject, such as tetter, 


486 


BALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


scald head, ring-worm, plica polonica, where the hair becomes 
glued together by the exudation from the scalp, and many others; 
taking care that in all scalp-diseases the hair should be kept cut 
very short all the time ; remembering, too, that all poultices other 
than pure water keep the parts more filthy, and retard recovery, 
and that all washes in the nature of astringents, even although as 
simple as alum water, oak bark, and common tea, tend directly to 
cause water on the brain, or some other internal ailment quite as 
fatal. 


- C&) - 

FOOD CURE. 

Diabetes has been cured in its early stages, and the symptoms 
greatly modified in incurable cases by the patient subsisting 
altogether on skimmed milk, all the cream carefully removed,—■ 
eating nothing, drinking nothing but three Or four quarts of this 
skimmed sweet milk every day, taking a pint or two every four 
hours ; the sugar begins to disappear from the urine within a 
week, but it should be persevered in for a full month, then for 
two weeks curdle it with rennet; then take lean meats, vegeta¬ 
bles, and coarse bread. 

Persons getting well can eat potatoes when they relish nothing 
else. They should always be cooked with the skin on, because 
the real nourishment—that which makes flesh—is found in the 
eighth of an inch, including this outer skin; but strange to say, 
this part is usually peeled off and thrown away. They should be 
baked, boiled, or steamed. Wash the potatoes in cold water as 
quickly as possible, put them in an iron saucepan, two-thirds full 
of potatoes, with no water, cover very tightly with a lid, place it 
over a hot fire; tliree-fourtlis of the potato is water, hence 
steam, which is hotter than boiling water, cooks them more 
rapidly; take them out as quick as possible when done, wrap 
them up in a cloth, or cover them over and they are ready to be 
eaten, with an almost floury mellowness. Or the potatoes can 
be cut in thin slices and then treated in the same way; experi¬ 
ence will soon teach how long a time is required to cook them in 
either case. 




SMALL-POX. 


4S7 


SMALL-POX. 

To set at rest the two questions—Does vaccination prevent small¬ 
pox ? Does vaccination introduce other diseases into the system ? 
it is only necessary to note a few facts and figures. In the king¬ 
dom of Bavaria every soldier was required to be revaccinated on 
entering the army for a period of fourteen years; during that 
whole time there was not a single case of small-pox, nor a single 
death. 

Of fifty thousand soldiers revaccinated in the Prussian army, 
about one-tliird “took,” showing that vaccination was a pre¬ 
ventive, at least in two-thirds of the cases, for twenty years. 

The chief English vaccinators, Drs. Mason, Stevens, Jenner, 
and West, vaccinated one hundred and nineteen thousand persons, 
old and young, without noting a single case where another disease 
was introduced into the system by vaccination. 

The proper method of vaccination, taking it for granted that 
the vaccine matter is good, is to introduce it at four different 
points on the arm. 

An attack of small-pox has been known to cure insanity; in 
all cases it leaves the system less liable to all attacks of other 
forms of disease. 

If a person who has the small-pox is kept in a “perfectly dark 
room during the whole time, allowing the light of but a single 
candle, there will be no pitting on the face; there never is under 
the hair, as it keeps the scalp always in darkness; then, also, there 
is but little pain, slight itching, and scarcely any smell at all; or 
varnish the eruption, as soon as it appears, with collodion, and 
then cover with a layer of fine wool or cotton; this adheres to the 
collodion; then brush the whole with a solution of gum-arabic, 
occasionally reapplying this gum, as the cotton may be disposed 
to rise at the edges; or, after painting the face with gun-cotton, 
sprinkle it over with the dust of pipe-clay, and repeat it thrice a 
a day, as the pustules break; this dust seems to absorb the mat¬ 
ter which spreads the disease, and removes the itching and 
burning. 


488 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


NERVOUS PROSTRATION, 

Or debility, arises from three causes : worldly anxiety, over brain 
work, family troubles. 

By the first is meant the constant strain on the brain in devising 
plans to u get along,” to “ keep up.” In cities particularly it must 
be dreadful. 

By the second is meant excessive effort in the management of 
one’s business, under circumstances of heavy responsibility. 

In the third are included the loss of children, or what is a thou¬ 
sand times worse than death, their dishonor, their getting into bad 
habits, idleness, drunkenness, gambling, and crime ; these are the 
things which break a father’s heart and send so many mothers to 
the mad-liouse. 

Among these family troubles are those which come in the re¬ 
lationship of man and wife; no one but a physician can form a 
proper estimate of these troubles, their depth, their frequency, 
and the little causes which lead thereto. A good many men are 
meanly jealous. It is the petty foible of the weak-minded. 

In a woman it is a weakness, very often a misapprehension, 
but for all that it is a terrible trial to the heart. 

Another source of trouble is a want of sympathy between man 
and wife. The remedy for this is to take a greater interest in 
each other’s department; endeavor to save each other trouble; 
do all you can for one another, to help each other along. The 
wife ought not to be so concerned about being able to dress well as 
to be all oblivious of the means which the husband has to use to se¬ 
cure the money for the same; nor ought the husband to see his 
wife worried by the servants and the children, and take no more 
interest in rectifying matters than if he were a member of 
another family. If a husband soils his clothing unnecessarily, 
his wife being his waslier-woman ; if he stalks through the house 
without wiping his feet at the door, making ugly marks which it 
may require half an hour’s work to remove ; if he causes meals to 
be delayed, or comes in long after they are over, not caring how 
much trouble he may occasion to prepare one anew ; if he permits 
his wife to get up and make a fire by which to cook breakfast, in¬ 
stead of getting up himself, allowing her to rest in bed until it is 


NERVOUS PROSTRATION 


489 


burning enough to cook by ; if he brings in visitors and friends, 
inopportunely, and without notice, especially on wash-days; if 
he has the vulgarity to be always grumbling, finding fault with 
everything, pleased with nothing, as if he were perfection itself, 
never praising,never commending; no wonder that a woman who 
was once regarded as but little less than an angel should have her 
nervous system racked and ruined. 

On the other hand, and it is not infrequent, that a woman is never 
satisfied with any exertions her husband can make to get along, 
but is always upraiding him for not doing better; for not making 
money faster; for not being more of a gentleman ; why don’t 
you dress like so and so; then there is another large class of wo¬ 
men as cold as icicles, who never meet fire with fire, always in¬ 
different, always tardy, always log-like, or forever ready to in¬ 
terpose excuses and planting obstacles and making objections, and 
this, too, from sheer perverseness and not from injury experienced, 
—these are the things which drive men mad, which drive them to 
the club house, the drinking saloon, the corner grocery, and to the 
house of her whose “ steps take hold on hell,” and then when the 
die is cast, these same women wake up, as if they were as inno¬ 
cent as babes unborn, as if they had never done a harmful thing 
in the whole course of their lives. 

Another frequent cause of utter nervous prostration in multi¬ 
tudes of cases is the inconsiderateness of married women absent¬ 
ing themselves from their homes for a week, or month, or a year 
at a time, leaving their husbands while they are enjoying them¬ 
selves. Two examples will convey the author’s meaning. A lady 
had been married six years, and had three beautiful children ; 
she had often said that there was nothing within her husband’s 
means which he would not willingly do to gratify her. She had 
her own beautiful home ; carriages and horses were at her com¬ 
mand. She thought she had too much family care, and proposed 
a housekeeper; it increased expenses, but the husband yielded; 
she made her own selection, that of an active, tidy, pushing, self- 
asserting young woman. The wife then thought that she would 
like to make a visit West. She did so, enjoyed herself very much, 
so much so indeed that from time to time she made excuses for 
staying a little longer, and at the end of eleven months returned 
home, soon became jealous, assumed an air of injured innocence, 
applied for a divorce, obtained it, and in three months her former 


490 


RALLS FAMILY DOCTOR 


husband was married. Twenty years have passed away, and she 
remains a broken-hearted woman. 

Not long ago a lady in the very prime of life obtained her hus¬ 
band’s permission to make a distant journey to remain a year. 
On her return she saw enough to overthrow her reason, and now 
spends her time in a private asylum with an allowance of five 
thousand dollars a year. The woman who leaves her family for a 
month defies fate; it ought never to be done for even a short 
week, unless there is an absolute necessity for it. Three men out 
of four are unwilling to be cheated ; if they are, they feel them¬ 
selves at liberty to make it up in some other way. They admit 
that in ordinary circumstances it is not right, but in their case 
there is a peculiarity, and is admissible. David wanted Uriah’s 
wife ; he did not think it right to order the husband’s head to be 
taken off, but he persuaded himself that it was “all on the square ” 
to put him in front of the battle where it was pretty certain he 
would fall by the hand of the enemy, and human nature is as sub¬ 
tle now as in David’s day. 

But as to the cure of nervous prostration, medicine in any and 
all of its forms may well be considered a miserable failure in 
comparison to proper hygienic measures, hence neither will allo¬ 
pathy or homoeopathy be called to our aid. 

In all these things the mind has gotten into a rut, and must be 
lifted out of it; other parts of the brain must be brought into 
requisition, and thus give those rest which have been at work too 
much, almost enough to disorganize them. In addition, the whole 
body must be forced into the large exercise of muscular activi¬ 
ties, and as near as possible, compulsory; activities which must 
be engaged in every day, rain or shine ; the best are those which 
compel journeying through strange countries, over untrodden 
deserts, intractable mountains, dangerous forests, where must be 
encountered the sierra, the ravine, the chasm, the precipice, the 
canon, the untrodden prairies, the unnavigated river, and all 
along to be fed by chance, every now and then not fed at all; or 
as a hand before the mast on a sail-vessel by Magellan or the Caj^e 
of Good Hope. If none of these are available, then food and 
medicine and water must be brought into requisition. In all 
cases keep clean; breathe all .the time a pure air, maintain a full, 
free action of the bowels every day. Be out on horseback, or 
walking or boating every available hour between breakfast and 


BUI GUTS DISEASE. 


491 


sundown, so as to compel the nervous energies to get out of the 
body through the muscles instead of the brain, thus giving it 
rest. If you have not strength to sit on a horse, have some one 
behind you to hold you up ; if you can’t ride fifty yards without 
great fatigue, ride ten, twenty to-day and twenty-five to-morrow, 
and so on, but ride, and remain in bed until you get rested, if it 
requires twenty hours out of the twenty-four every day, sending 
more of the nervous energy out through the muscles every 
day, less through the brain, meanwhile using a fruit diet, except 
that at dinner lean meats may.be freely used, and if not too weak, 
a cool hip-bath every day; if very weak or chilly take a tepid 
bath, less and less warm until a bracing cold one can be taken, 
remembering all the time :— 

The body must be nourished. The bowels must be kept free. 
The brain must be rested. The nervous power must be sent out 
through the muscles. The old business, the old occupation must 
be totally abandoned for the present. And sleep must be courted 
and indulged in to the fullest extent that the body will take, but 
not to be promoted by any drug yet known to man; let it come 
from weariness; for tiredness is the only safe anodyne. 


- -(U90 - 

BRIGHT’S DISEASE 

Was formerly called Albuminuria, because the albumen of the 
blood escapied through the kidneys; now called Bright’s disease 
because a London physician of that name was the first to publish 
a more satisfactory account of the nature of the malady in 1827. 
It appears in two forms, acute and chronic; easily cured if 
promptly attended to when it first appears ; always fatal when it 
is allowed to go on so long as to become fixed or chronic; hence 
it is of the utmost importance to know its first symptoms; it oc¬ 
curs most generally from forty-five to sixty-five years of age; 
one-third more common in men than in women. After exposure 
to wet and cold on a drunken fit, or an attack of scarlet fever, 
the skin becomes dry and. cold, with headache, nausea, vomiting, 
pain in the back and limbs, and some difficulty in breathing. 
The urine is small in quantity, frequent, heavy and dark, because 




402 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


tliere is so much blood in it; the kidneys being so much congested 
in the small blood-vessels that the blood oozes through ns well as 
the watery portion, as explained in the article on congestion. If 
the deposit is noticed through a microscope there will be seen 
blood-corpuscles, little tubes of albumen, and masses of fibrin. 
Within three weeks recovery or death takes place usually; some 
cases linger for months in the chronic form. Death generally 
results from dropsy, or some form of inflammation. About two- 
thirds of the acute cases recover. The most approved treatment 
by allopathy is cupping the loins over the kidneys to relieve the 
congestion, application of blankets dipped in boiling water and 
wrung out; free purging every day, and a nutritious liquid diet. 

In the chronic form, which comes on very slowly in the course 
of months and years, there is a gradual loss of strength; the face 
is pale and puffy, some shortness of breath, and a frequent dispo¬ 
sition to urinate. 

But instead of showing these symptoms by degrees it some¬ 
times comes on Very suddenly in the form of a convulsion, amau¬ 
rosis, difficult breathing, or violent inflammation in some one part 
of the body; then follow the symptoms named in the acute form, 
then getting better, to come on again with greater violence, at in¬ 
tervals of weeks, months, and years. 

About one-tliird die from the blood being poisoned in conse¬ 
quence of the- urine- not being taken from it by the kidneys, as 
many almost die from general dropsy. 

It was said that colds and wet and dampness and drunkenness 
bring on the disease. Drunken persons are very liable to just such 
exposures, going to sleep on the damp ground or grass. The kid¬ 
neys are imbedded with fat, as may be seen in the butcher’s shop, 
as if Nature intended them to be well protected from colds, as 
also from jars and wounds and bruises. All who wear a stout 
material of woollen flannel next the body habitually do much 
towards preventing Bright’s disease. 

Life and health are maintained by two processes: one of these 
is taking into the body from the external world materials which 
will sustain life; the other consists in casting out of the body 
that which, if allowed to remain, will destroy it. It is computed 
that almost as large a portion of the wastes of the system are 
carried out of it through the kidneys as by dejection through the 
rectum. The blood of the body passes through the kidneys, 


BRIGHTS DISEASE. 


493 


whose province it- is to withdraw from it certain waste princi¬ 
ples, which, combined, are called urea, and are floated out of the 
body by the urine. Bright’s disease is a disease of the kidneys 
in which they fail to unload the blood of those particles which it 
ought to do, and at the same time allows a way of escape of cer¬ 
tain other particles which ought to remain in the body, to be used 
for purposes of health. The urea not being taken from the blood, 
poisons it and affects the nervous system immediately, causing 
convulsions, stupor, epilepsy, and death. These symptoms, in 
connection with scarlet and puerperal attacks, are the result of 
urine poisoning. If, therefore, the urea is not taken from the 
blood, there is not so much discharged from the bladder; hence an 
infallible result is a scanty discharge of urine, and that is a symp¬ 
tom never absent in Bright’s disease; that is, a habitually small 
discharge, for temporarily a person who perspires a great deal, all 
healthy persons in warm weather send a large part of .the water 
out of the body through the skin, has much to be passed by the 
bladder. 

The usual amount of urine passed from a healthy person every 
twenty-four hours is from fifty to seventy-five tablespoonfuls, that 
is, from twenty-five to thirty-five ounces, or on an average about 
two pints or pounds; if then there is not half that much for a 
week or more, prompt attention should be given to it. In fact, 
free, copious urination is a sign of good health ; it “ carries ” off 
internal fever, and keeps the blood pure. Hence medicines are 
given to “ act on the kidneys,” that is, to prompt urination, as but¬ 
termilk, flaxseed tea. Water-melons are famous in that direc¬ 
tion ; when out of season, their seeds are made a tea of for the 
same purpose. The common lemon has such a striking effect in 
that direction, that it is used to cure dropsies, a case of which, in 
an aggravated form, was successfully treated by taking one lemon 
a day, one-third of it at three different times for three days; then 
a whole lemon was taken morning, noon, and night, and in three 
days more two were taken at a time, morning, noon, and 
night, until eighteen were taken every day; then diminish the 
number by one a day. At the end of the seventh day the urine 
increased in quantity and kept on increasing until the dropsy was 
perfectly cured. The same remedy might cure Bright’s disease 
in its forming stages, when the urine was observed to be scant 
in quantity for a week or more, with the first symptoms of the 
malady already described. 


494 


HAL VS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


Iii the very first stages of Bright’s disease, that of beginning 
congestion, there is too much urine, increased by the exudation of 
the serous portions of the blood, as before stated ; next, blood is 
exuded; then there is disorganization of the structure of the kid¬ 
neys, and death is inevitable. From all these statements the phi¬ 
losophy of treatment and cure is to begin promptly and give a 
liver pill, to be repeated every week; between these give some 
salts, so as to have two actions of the bowels every day; take 
freely such remedies as act on the kidneys and promote urination, 
keep warm woollen pads or wet compresses to the small of the 
back, reaching to the shoulder-blades, and the special fruit 
diet; all hope being in the prompt treatment of the first 
symptoms. Hydropathy and homoeopathy treat this disease on the 
general principle of reducing inflammation and relieving conges¬ 
tion ; the latter is accomplished by hydropathists in the use of a 
loosening diet, compresses and fomentations and a general building 
up of the health. Homoeopathy reduces inflammation of that im¬ 
portant organ by aconite, cantharides, and hepar sulphur. If very 
painful, belladonna; colchicum, if there is nausea and red urine, 
aided by abstaining from all forms of spirits, and cultivating 
quietude of body. 

- ZCTJ - 

SHAVING. 

One of the most disgusting face diseases, as well as tedious of 
cure, is often communicated to gentlemen by being shaved in a 
barber’s shop with a razor which has just been used on the face of 
a man who had the malady. It ought to be a very urgent neces¬ 
sity which should induce us to go into a strange shop for a shave; 
better go unshaven for a year than to run the risk of a disease 
which it sometimes takes a year to cure. The cause of the maladv 
is a vegetable product which sprouts up by millions around the 
root of each particular hair, causing a filthy yellow matter, which 
scabs and scales, and seems to renew itself indefinitely long. 
This vegetable growth multiplies itself, and scatters its seeds by 
millions in a very short time. But there is an infallible prevent¬ 
ive, costing nothing, yet the reader won’t use it, not one in a 
hundred, simply from a reckless perversity, peculiar to the ani- 




SHA VING. 


41)5 


mal man. If the razor is dipped in hot water, carefully wiped, 
and dipped in hot water again, the contagion is impossible, because 
the hot water scalds the life out of the seed, as it would out of a 
grain of wheat, or any other farm product. 

% 

• ‘RULES FOR SHAVING. 

Lather the face well, rub it into the skin and lather again; the 
soap takes the oil out of each hair and leaves it stiff and brittle. 
Then sharpen your razor and lather again. 

Move the razor over the face in a sloping or mowing direction, 
not at right angles with the hairs ; it thus mows or saws them off. 

Do not tighten the skin with the hand, only as much as you can 
do so with the unaided muscles of the face, then you are not so 
likely to cut into the skin. 

Let the razor lay as flat on the skin as possible ; you may not 
shave as closely, but then you will very rarely cut the skin ; the 
higher the back of the razor is above the skin the more likely 
are you to wound the face. 

lie is the most independent man who habituates himself to 
shave with cold water. 

As soon as you have finished shaving strop your razor on the 
coarser side, because the razor then is warm and soft and sharpens 
sooner. Next wipe the razor well with soft buckskin, and then 
strike it flat on the pants or an ottoman, which will cover it with 
dust to absorb any possible dampness which may be left. 

Wash the part shaved in cold water, flap it up against the face 
with the hands, not only to wash off all the soap, but to cool the 
skin, which has been irritated and inflamed by the sharp edge of 
the razor. 

When you go to shave again, first lather your face as above, 
then wipe the dust from the razor carefully, strop it on the 
coarser 1 side ; for its being cold the edge is rougher than when 
put away, and these rough points are worn off; then use the 
smoothest side of the strop, do not bear hard; that rounds off the 
edge, as the leather rises immediately behind it before it gets 
away. 

Draw the razor from heel to point and as diagonally as possi¬ 
ble, for then a larger amount of razor surface touches the strop 
before you get to the end of it than if the razor is drawn more 
nearly at right angles across the strop. 


406 


HAL VS FAMILY DOCTOR 


It will require a longer time to sharpen the razor by pressing 
lightly, but it will be a smoother shave. 

The last thing before shaving draw the razor a number of times 
from heel to point on the ball of the thumb, that is, the palm of 
the hand between the root of the thumb and wrist; this warms 
it and makes the edge a great deal keener. 

Too much stropping will give a wire edge and a rough shave ; 
in that ca^e, draw the razor across the end of the thumb nail; if 
the edge is wiry there will be a feeling of roughness or filing or 
sawing. 


--- 

COLD CREAM. 

One ounce each of spermaceti arid white wax, with a quarter 
of a pint of oil of almonds, mix and pour into a mortar which 
has been warmed by dipping into hot water, add while stirring 
four ounces of rose-water until it is cold, then let it stand in a 
convenient glass or glazed vessel. A pomade preparation consists 
of a hard, fresh hog’s lard never salted, and well washed in cold 
water three times ; in the fourth fresh water let it soak in a cool 
place for twenty-four hours; wash it once more; pour off the 
water and beat into it as much of the best rose-water as it will 
absorb during the beating. This is very useful to have in the 
family all the time as an ointment for sores, cuts, burns, bruises, 
irritated surfaces, chapped hands and lips. This is useful to keep 
on hand all the time ; persons who have to be out in the cold a 
great deal should apply this freely to all sores, cuts, or scratches ; 
it prevents inflammation. 

Pain Extractor, to be kept ready for use in every family, 
there is perhaps nothing of the kind equal to it. One ounce each 
of spirits of hartshorn, laudanum, and origanum ; stir these into 
half a pound of mutton tallow, when it is nearly cooled. Rub it 
well into any painful part, and then spread some on a rag and 
apply it as a plaster; should be kept in a jar or pot well covered. 




PHYSIOLOGY. 


497 


PHYSIOLOGY. 

At the top of the cut the convolutions of the brain are shown. 



A. The heart. 

B B. The lungs. 
C. Liver. 

1). Stomach. 
a. The aorta. 

B. Lungs. 

c. Windpipe. 

d. Diaphragm. 

/• The intestines, 
fi?. Bladder. 

h. Ligaments. 

i. Uterus. 
in. Kidneys. 


The windpipe is seen entering 
the lungs back of a , the aorta. 
The heart A is not exactly in 
the centre of the lungs, but a 
little to the left; if the lungs 
are fully distended it cannot 
be seen 

The bowels or intestines are 
seen in a number of convolu¬ 
tions ; in health they are al¬ 
ways in motion, more or less 
decided; if they move too 
much it is diarrhoea or cholera, 
hence one of the very best 
remedies in either case is a 
bandage of woollen flannel, 
over a foot broad, bound tight¬ 
ly around the abdomen, so 
compressing it that they have 
not room to move ; this affords 
a delightful sensation of im¬ 
mediate relief, and a person 
who could not have walked 
half a dozen yards without 
stopping or resting, can walk 
half a mile with considerably 
less fatigue; besides the flannel 

o I 

imparts warmth. 

As no sore can possibly heal 
if it is constantly picked, or is 
pressed apart every hour, so- 
when a bowel is penetrated 
it? rarely heals, for two rea¬ 
sons ; either the part wounded 
instinctively rests on the in¬ 
stant, or the other portions are 


32 













498 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


in incessant motion, working their contents downwards, and when 
they come to the wounded part they escape into the abdomen, caus¬ 
ing inevitably inflammation and death. Hence the most important 
practical truth that if a sharp instrument enters the abdomen, or 
a bullet penetrates the bowels, the person more certainly dies than 
if the bullet entered the brain or the heart. Unless a weapon or 
bullet divides a large blood-vessel, the person may live three or 
four days ; this fact is of immense importance at times, for 
while it shows that death must come, it gives time for the adjust¬ 
ment of various important matters. 

If the intestines do not move enough they are said to be torpid, 
and constipation is an inevitable result. This is a very common 
attendant of dyspepsia, and very remarkable cures have been 
sometimes effected by a regular, patient attention to kneading the 
bowels gently after each meal, that is, by pressing inwards and 
downwards with the ball of the hand for about five minutes, be¬ 
ginning at the lower edge of the ribs on one side and going round 
to the other side and backwards; the intestines are thus made to 
move mechanically. Others have been successful, remarkably so, 
by pelting the whole abdomen, to the extent before mentioned, 
with the balls of the fingers and thumb, spread out like a fan. Of 
course gentle means like these should be persisted in, but the cure 
is founded on philosophical principles and will seldom fail to com¬ 
pensate for the trouble taken. 




LAXATIVES, 

Purgatives, and cathartics are medicines which act on the bowels; 
that is, being taken into the stomach they pass through the body 
and carry before them the contents of stomach and bowels, by 
causing more or less watery passages. Purgatives so irritate the 
mucous membrane of the bowels as to cause them to push their 
contents onwards and downwards, as rhubarb. 

Laxatives do not excite or irritate, they simply relax, and thus 
as it were open the gates of the system, and let the fluids pass out, 
as Epsom salts, an ounce at the time, dissolved in water, or a good 
tablespoonful; a teaspoonful for a child. Unless there is urgency, 
it would be better to take half an ounce at night, and half in the 
morning on an empty stomach, the action would then be less 'vio- 




LAXATIVES. 


499 


lent, less weakening, and more protracted in its good effects, 
without leaving the bowels more costive than natural. 


castor-oil 

is another remedy for loosening the bowels. In full doses of 
two tablespoonfuls it goes through the body in a few houi-s; but 
in that case acts several times and largely, leaving considerable 
weakness and costiveness also, there being no action sometimes 
for several days. 

If taken in small doses, night and morning, one, two, or three 
teaspoonfuls at a time, just enough to move the bowels once in 
twenty-four hours, it will be found to be the simplest, safest, and 
most unobjectionable remedy for constipation yet known. Each 
person.can notice for himself how much it requires to act in his 
case once freely, keep it up for a few days until the system gets 
into the habit of acting; then first diminish each dose, then omit 
one dose, finally the other; but resume with returning costive¬ 
ness. The great objection to its use is its taste, but pour the dose 
in the middle of any kind of fluid, put the rim of the vessel far 
back on the tongue, toss it up quickly and down it will slide, 
only do not draw the breath nor allow the oil to touch the lips; 
then it leaves no taste, only the taste of the vehicle. The castor 
bean grows in our gardens. The pressed seeds yield the oil. A 
good laxative in the form of a pill is made of forty grains of pul¬ 
verized aloes, twenty grains of pulverized gum guaiacum, ten 
grains of pulverized gamboge, made into eighty-two pills with 
gum-arabic water; take two at bed-time, just enough to give one 
free action next morning; or, 

Twenty grains each of aloes, rhubarb, and ipecac, made into 
thirty pills with gum water; take one or two, night and morn¬ 
ing. 

Perhaps one of the best pills ever devised for keeping up a 
moderate daily action of the bowels was formerly known as the 


DINNER PILL, 

first noticed in Paris in 1758. Take six drachms of the very 
best socotrine aloes, two drachms each of mastic and led loses, 
made up with syrup of wormwood, made into pills of three grains 

each. They are also called 


500 


POISON IVY VINE. 


lady Webster’s pills, 

4 

and can be had at any good drug store; they were originally 
taken one at a time, about an hour before dinner, hence the 
name ; take one or two at bedtime, just enough to act gently on 
the bowe2s next morning. But the reader should bear in mind, 
that the habitual use of any medicine to keep the bowels in a 
proper condition is always pernicious in the end; hence every 
means possible should be used to secure that result by natural 
agencies, such as coarse breads, fruits, and berries, aided by out¬ 
door activities. See “ Medical Prescriptions,” under the head of 
Laxatives. 


- Z&d - 

POISON IVY VINE. 

Some persons are very liable to be poisoned by touching the leaves 
of this vine, or even coming near them; others are not affected 
at all; the skin of the face and hands itches, reddens, burns, swells, 
then watery blisters appear, break, and the skin peels off within a 
week. Bathe or wash the parts freely with sweet spirits of nitre, 
whether the skin is broken or not, or pour boiling water on a hard 
piece of lime-stone, called quick-lime, stir it, let it settle, and ap¬ 
ply it to the parts with a brush or soft rag or sponge, night and 
morning until cured; or keep the parts well smeared with any 
kind of oil, but the first-named remedies are best. Keep the bow¬ 
els acting very freely, three times in two days, with “special 
fruit diet.” The same remedies are applied to other poisonous 
effects from plants. Or bathe the part thrice a day with sweet 
oil or common rum; if sores break, apply starch. Some wash 
with a decoction of witch-hazel bark, with the diet above. 

The effects of the poison-oak or rims toxicodendron are 
promptly controlled and removed by painting the eruption with 
the fluid extract of serpentaria, or Virginia snakeroot, night and 
morning, causing the bowels to act twice a day during the appli¬ 
cation, living altogether on coarse bread, rice, and fruits. Solu¬ 
tions of copperas, oxide of zinc, or lead-water are efficient, but 
are never safe without the free bowels and diet just named 




DISEASES 


PECULIAR TO WOMEN 

WITH 

SUBJECTS PEBTAINING 

TO THE 

MARRIED RELATION. 




















J 




















DISEASES PECULIAR TO WOMEN. 


TO PARENTS. 

It is not profitable to children and youth to indulge in read¬ 
ing on subjects pertaining to the married relation, hence what is 
•said in that connection is brought all together, and may be bound 
or secured with cloth or tape, in such a manner as to prevent the 
younger members of the family from having ready access thereto. 
Perhaps a better plan would be to keep the whole book under 
lock and key; parents making it a point from time to time to 
read such portions, with* comments upon them, at such seasons 
and on such occasions, as might aid in impressing on the mind 
valuable practical lessons which may be applicable for a life¬ 
time, attention to which might in very many cases prevent 
suffering and weary sickness, and premature death. A young 
man whose constitution was hopelessly broken by habits which 
naturally led to that end, but which he did not see, invoked cur¬ 
ses on the memory of his father, in the author’s hearing, for never 
having given him any instruction about guarding against disease 
or saying anything to him which was calculated to impress on 
his mind the immeasurable importance of taking care of the 
health. 

A physician often hears the lament, coming with a sigh of 
agony from the bottom of the heart, “ Oh! if mother had only 
told me a little about such things, I could so easily have avoided 
what I suffer.” It is especially the duty of mothers to begin at 
the age of twelve years, with their daughters, to open up to their 
minds the coming change, to be looked for about fourteen, and 
sometimes a year or two or more earlier; it is safer to begin 
at twelve. She will hear at school hints about private diseases, 
especially such as are,induced by bad practices, and when they 
see or feel anything unusual there is an instinctive prompting to 
conceal it, and to take measures in their own hands to remove 



504 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


indications, which very measures may liave disastrous results 
upon the system, to last for a lifetime. A child, for example, ob¬ 
serves a stain; the most natural resort is cold water; it is not 
effectual; more is used and more, until the parts are chilled, sup¬ 
pression takes place, liable to cause a variety of ill results. 

About the same time also the breasts may begin to develop 
themselves; the same kind of shrinking is felt, means are taken 
to conceal it by a greater tightening of the dress at these parts, 
interfering with the circulation, arresting the flow of blood, hard¬ 
ening the glands, and laying the foundation for cancer in the 
breast; hence it is better at the age of twelve, in these latitudes, 
to begin to communicate by degrees such information as to these 
matters as may be serviceable under the circumstances. Make 
the communications in a casual way; do not make a mountain of 
it, let it be an incidental thing; not a long story at a time, and 
with no air of mystery, or secrecy, or in whisperings with closed 
doors; better to treat the whole subject as a matter-of-course 
affair, so as to have the child’s mind at ease; this will enable it 
to give fuller attention to the subject and comprehend it more 
thoroughly than under other circumstances. 

The same suggestion may be made to fathers in reference to 
their sons, who by instinct, without any teacher; or sooner, at the 
suggestions of vicious servants, or apprentices, or their own asso¬ 
ciates, fall into habits of procuring sexual gratifications, and 
about which some suggestions judiciously made would be a great 
advantage to the boy in various ways. 

These things are spoken of in subsequent pages. 


- 'jji - 

MATERNITY. 

Tiie noble Queen of England, with the intelligent cooperation 
of her lamented husband, reared a family of nine sons and daugh¬ 
ters to maturity, without a single serious case of illness, by a firm 
and persistent attention to the ascertained laws of health and life 
in eating, sleeping, exercise, and manual labor, in accordance 
with the counsels of eminent medical men at court; and there is 
no necessary reason why other persons, contemplating parentage, 
should not secure a similar happy result. How this can be uni¬ 
formly done, may be learned from the following pages. 




MATERNITY. 


505 


LAW OF PERPETUATION. 

“ Whose seed is in itself,” was the announcement of the great 
law of life by the wise and loving Father of All, before man was. 
<£ Like begets like,” is a more modern and familiar expression of 
the same important practical fact. This law governs the perpet¬ 
uation of every living thing, from the moss and lichen on the 
rocks, to the blade of the prairie, the flower of the field, the oak 
of the forest; from the invisible living things which float in 
ether, to insect and fish and animal and man. The truth is so 
generally recognized by savage as well as civilized nations, that 
it is acted upon in every part of the habitable globe in reference 
to the growth of our fields and the multiplication of our herds ; 
but in a direction infinitely more important, it is absolutely and 
everywhere disregarded. 

Every farmer, even the most unintelligent, has motlier-wit 
enough to endeavor to secure the very best “ seed ” wheat for his 
planting. The wild Arab who, upon his mettled courser, sweeps 
in kingly pride over the desert wastes of his country, spares no 
pains in improving by breed and culture the fieetnessof his stock: 
while cultivated man, with science to direct and Christianity to 
urge to the execution, does nothing ; leaves to chance the impress 
of the physical, mental, and moral character of those who may 
be born to him; and this, in face of the plainest mandate within 
the lids of the Bible, “ Train up a child in the way he should go.” 
Train him up for “ length of days,” for being useful to the high¬ 
est intent, in his generation, and in such a way as will make it 
most certain that he shall secure a beatific existence beyond the 
boundary of time. The men and women who marry with a de¬ 
liberate purpose like this, and will carry it out to the utmost of 
their ability, science guiding, and religious principle helping to 
execute, will be the forerunners of an evangel second only to 
that of him who came “ crying in the wilderness ; ” for the re¬ 
sult will be simply this, that all who are born would grow up to 
be healthy, intelligent, and good. 

Every parent can see for himself how wholly such ends as these 
have failed to enter his calculation and his deliberate plannings, 
except in part, at a time too late to accomplish the highest 
results. 


506 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR . 


THE LEPER. 

The leprosy of the olden time was not only fearful in its rav¬ 
ages upon the system, but the restrictions imposed on the unfor¬ 
tunate persons who were its victims, made it, if possible, a still 
more terrible calamity : to be an outcast from society ; to come 
in contact with no living soul; to be shunned instinctively by all 
of humankind, and lest persons should approach unawares, to 
be compelled to give a loud warning to all coming near, “ Iveep 
away! unclean, unclean ! ” A disease for which there is no 
cure this side the grave ! The skin becomes dry and scaly ; the 
hair falls out; the eyebrows and eyelashes drop off ; the nails of 
the fingers and toes are eaten away ; ugly excrescences and 
putrid sores deform the person. By imperceptible yet resistless 
advances, the miserable body, joint by joint, wastes away, yet 
not to be arrested by natural death, until the corrupted, disfig¬ 
ured mass has scarcely a relic to indicate that it had ever been 
human! It requires no argument to prove that it would be a 
crime to perpetuate, to hand down to a child, such a horrible 
malady. 

But here is a young man of wealthy parentage, of high social 
position, having a collegiate education and the means of an idle 
life. He soon finds the habitation of her whose “ steps take hold 
on hell ; 55 every fibre of the system becomes diseased ; every 
drop of blood in the body rankles with an unquenchable fire of 
poison—a poison which no human remedy has ever succeeded in 
eradicating: irons heated to whiteness have failed and always 
will fail to burn out the canker, because it is in the blood ; 
splotches break out on the body, oftener on the face, sometimes 
eating away the nose; as if Divinity intended to affix the mark 
of Cain, and to advertise all humankind to hold the victim in 
unutterable loathing. Medical skill sometimes patches up these 
men so far as to enable them to present an unsuspicious exterior, 
and by forced temperance and studied cleanliness of person and 
clothing, a semblance of health remains; but only a semblance : 
the serpent poison still rankles within, only hidden enough to 
cause pardoning friends and kindred to sketch the whole history 
and character in the light sentence, “ lie was a fast young man.” 
As much as to say, “ It is a thing of the past; it was among the 


GESTATION\ 


507 


indiscretions of youth, but the effects have all been obliterated.” 
The assertion is a terrible untruth. A lifetime of purity, and 
temperance cannot wash away the taint, and every child born to 
such a man will be born with a scrofulous constitution, to be for 
a lifetime, with apparent intervals of reasonable health, afflicted 
with brain diseases in early childhood; inanition and wasting 
away; predisposition to attacks of all prevalent diseases; to 
slow and imperfect recoveries from the maladies of childhood, 
followed by running sores from various parts of the body—from 
the neck, in the shape of King’s Evil; from the joints, giving 
rise to white swellings, rickets, and St.. Yitus’ Dance; from the 
ear, inducing life-long deafness; in later life a greater liability 
to all diseases of the lungs, giving tubercles, the seeds of con¬ 
sumption ; always being the foundation of various breakings out 
on the body, of weak eyes, of slender bones, of frail constitu¬ 
tions, and of the dreadful cancer. 

Now it is easy for a well-balanced mind to feel that it is a 
crime in any man to perpetuate maladies like these. But the 
principle is the same if lesser evils be entailed on the innocent 
unborn. Hence the broad general truth cannot be denied, that 
it is both a duty and a humanity on the part of all who contem¬ 
plate parentage to make it a study how to avoid perpetuating dis¬ 
ease, and how to secure to those who may be born to them the 
highest possible advantages, physical, mental, and moral, not only 
as a means of surrounding them with all the aids calculated to 
insure enjoyment and usefulness here, but happiness in a blessed 
hereafter. 

--^ — — 


GESTATION 

means a “carrying,’’ literally, and is synonymous with preg 
nancy, but is a more refined term. Catamenia is the better 
name for the monthly turns, monthly sickness, menses, etc., con¬ 
veying the idea of something which occurs monthly. If mothers 
will accustom themselves and their daughters, as they grow up, 
to employ the terms used by physicians, these being unknown to 
most persons, it will be much easier to speak of them, as they 
will appear less indelicate and less vulgar. If, after the catame¬ 
nia have been occurring regularly, there should be a cessation, 




508 


BALDS FAMILY DOCTOR 


without some more palpable cause, of shock or accident, or seri¬ 
ous sickness or exposure to cold and wet, the wife may set it 
down as a fact that the foundation of a new existence has been 
laid, that 

IMPREGNATION 

lias taken place, the duration of which is two hundred and 
eighty days, or forty weeks, sometimes sooner, sometimes later ; 
but in the great majority of cases of healthy women, that is the 
time, and is called “ nine months.” When that time will expire 
occasions thousands of conjectures and calculations, for the ex¬ 
pectant mother wants to know the exact day as nearly as possible. 

Impregnation or Conception takes place generally within ten 
days after being “ unwell.” Hence it is usual to count forty 
weeks from the day of the last cessation. Sometimes impreg¬ 
nation takes place just before the catamenia; but the great gen¬ 
eral rule is that it occurs soon after, for then the woman is in a 
state of feeling and preparation and desire for the great genera¬ 
tive act. Man is an animal, woman is purity; he is always 
ready ; she seems to have the instinct of perpetuation, only at the 
time the system is most susceptible of it, as if she lived to obey 
the Divine injunction, “multiply,” rather than for purposes of 
passional indulgence. 

Human inquisitiveness into the secret laws and operations of 
Nature has been carried to the extent of attempting to ascertain 
whether sex can be under the control of the human will. It is 
doubtful if the Almighty ever intended that the secret should be 
discovered, for it seems to be a necessity that the number of men 
and women should bear a certain proportion, that more males 
should be born than females, to answer the requisitions of war, 
and the accidents involving loss of life, which attend the more 
exposed occupations of men ; for many of them are perilous, as 
in working mines, and in sailor life. A law seems to prevail in 
animal existence, which in its application to the human race 
seems to show that if the impregnating act—which is generally 
denominated in these pages as the 

(i MARITAL RIGHT” OR “ CONSUMMATION,” 

being the thing which both husband and wife are entitled to, and 
which neither can refuse without invading the rights of the 

o o 


GESTATION. 


509 


other, and which is consequently a great wrong, unless the de¬ 
mands are excessive, which subject is discussed elsewhere—if 
the marital right is performed within a day or two after the ces¬ 
sation of the catamenia, of the time of being unwell, the pro¬ 
duct will be a female; the longer it is delayed, the more probable 
is it that it will be a boy; usually no impregnation follows the 
marital act, when it is performed later than ten days after the 
catamenial cessation. 

The first child usually comes two weeks earlier, in thirty- 
eight weeks instead of forty. 

Another mode of counting is to calculate from the 

QUICKENING, 

which is the instant when the new being seems first to take up 
the life of motion ; it stirs convulsively within the mother at 
the end of four months and a half from the date of impregnation. 
But a vigorous child moves sooner ; then, again, the mother may 
be at the time so much engaged in important matters, that her mind 
will not take cognizance of the fact, but the quickening, in con¬ 
nection with the time of the catamenial cessation, serves to con¬ 
firm the correctness of the “ count.” This quickening is not un¬ 
like the flutter of a bird or the involuntary twitching of a 
muscle, and occurs at the lower portion of the body or abdomen, 
just above the pubis; to some it feels like the motion of wind 
in the bowels. 

The nearer approach of labor at the close of the nine months 
is the settling of the abdomen ; the weight of the child seems to 
bear it downward; the parts seem more full, and there is in¬ 
creased mucous secretion, showing that the parts are relaxing 
preparatory to an easier delivery. At this time a chilly sensa¬ 
tion, with nervousness, may pass through the frame, attended 
with an indefinable fear of impending evil, without any special 
reason for it. A more decided indication is a slight show of 
bloody mucus, before or after the pain, indicating a dilatation 
of the mouth of the uterus. If at the time there is a frequent 
desire for urination, or defecation, or both, this is kindly 
Xature’s motherly preparation for greater safety in delivery, for 
the child passes out of the womb through the channel between 
the bladder and the rectum, and if these are both empty, it is 


510 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


easy to see liow much more room there is for the exit, of the 
child, and how much easier it is for the mother; if the bladder 
is full, there is danger of its rupture; hence, especially during 
the later weeks of gestation, the calls of nature, in both direc¬ 
tions, should be promptly attended to. If nausea or vomiting 
occurs about this time, its effect is to relax the system still more, 
and to that extent insures an easy delivery. Synchronously, 
there is sometimes a nervous shiver or tremor, then comes the 
rupture and a flow of water; if there is no water, it is a 

DRY BERTH, 

which is more lingering and less easy in other respects. Physical 
or mental shocks, from alarm or unwelcome news, may occasion 
a discharge of the waters several days, or in rare cases a week be¬ 
forehand, but without materially unfavorable results. 

FALSE ALARMS 

are wandering and irregular pains ; the real ones come at short¬ 
ening intervals across the back, over the lower portion of the 
abdomen, or across the thigh; more frequent and more severe, 
until the last. About this time it is well to administer an 
enema slowly, of a quart or two of tepid water, not cold or cool 
even ; this aids to unload the bowels more perfectly, with the ad¬ 
vantage of its being less necessary to have an evacuation for several 
days after delivery. Constipation just before delivery may occa¬ 
sion false pains, and these may bring on the real ones. But after the 
thirty eighth week or earlier, if there are indications of approach¬ 
ing birth, one full evacuation ought to be secured every day at 
the very least; better to have two, than to have less than one in 
every twenty-four hours, It is always better, when these wan¬ 
dering pains occur, to take an enema;, if it does not afford 
entire relief, and is likely to irritate or worry, add a teaspoonful 
of laudanum to a pint of water, and use half of it as an enema, or 
even less water, if the lower bowel or rectum has been just evacu¬ 
ated ; the object being to allay the pain, which will be the more 
certain to be done, when the enema is retained. Sometimes, 
under such circumstances, an agreeable relief, comfortably 
soothing, is secured by sitting in a tub of water of ninety or ahun- 


GESTATION. 


511 


dred degrees, or agreeably warm to the patient. If these things 
do not avail, it is because Nature wdlls the completion of her 
work. The patient should have on an easy dress, in which she 
can sit, or lie, or walk, with equal comfort, and that can be 
easily washed. Some impervious material should cover the bed 
or mattress, rubber or oiled silk; over this an old coverlid or 
comfortable, with folded sheets over that; then the ordinary 
sheet, and another at hand in case of need, with extra towels, 
handkerchiefs, aiid some sweet oil or lard; also a little soft 
blanket or flannel, a pair of scissors, and a soft string. 

A few days before delivery, the uterus begins to contract, as 
if preparing itself for the important work before it, and by cun 
traction diminishes, and begins to settle down in the abdomen. 
These contractions increase in frequency and strength. If they 
are not strong enough for delivery, they may be increased by 
friction over the back and bowels with the hand, or a damp 
cloth; a bandage around the abdomen, a little tightened from 
time to time, affords considerable aid. A great misfortune, 
however, if a physician is not present, is the disposition of the 
patient and ordinary midwives to become impatient, constantly 
attempting to do something in order to hurry up the delivery. 
The wise physician waits, and admits of no interference what¬ 
ever, unless absolutely necessary ; he does nothing in nine cases 
out of ten but to maintain the utmost composure and presence of 
mind; watchful, calm, and cool, and silent; only speaking now 
and then in confident, kindly, and encouraging tones, to sus¬ 
tain the strength and will power of the patient; he avoids equally 
unnecessary concealments and too confident assurances and un¬ 
advised predictions; he aims to maintain the highest and most 
implicit confidence of the patient, so as to enable her to lean 
upon him and look up to him in any emergency. He never 
speaks harshly or impatiently, but always in kind yet firm 
tones; now and then saying something to divert the mind to a 
foreign subject, so as to while away the time, and then it comes 
up to the case with more strength. Everything possible should 
be said and done calculated to compose and cheer, and inspire 
confidence in a safe delivery. 

Great injury is often done by having too many persons in the 
room as assistants; each one thinks that something must be 
done, often they are in each other’s way and are a positive hind 


512 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


ranee ; tlie physician, the nurse, and the husband, each is equally 
indispensable, all necessary, and no more. 

There should be always a good foot-board to the bedstead; 
and better still, if a firm box were at hand, in case of need, to 
put against the foot-board, if the patient should be too high in 
bed; this saves moving down; a sheet also should be thrown 
around the posts at the foot, in such a way that it may be pulled 
upon, if necessary; another at the head, as a brace to the arms 
and body, in bearing down. If a side position is chosen on de¬ 
livery, an attendant may support the patient’s back, by pressing 
her own against it. An extra pillow should always be on hand 
to place between the knees, to keep them apart if required. 

Delivery sometimes comes so unexpectedly that the patient is 
entirely alone; in that case, as soon as the head appears, if the 
cord which attaches the mother to the child physically is around 
the neck of the infant, lift it off over the head, let the air come 
to the face, and remove at once any obstructions of mucus or 
other thing, which may impede the breathing, from the nose and 
month; lay the little stranger on its right side, a short distance 
from the mother ; if it does not breathe freely, sprinkle cold wa¬ 
ter on the face as long as it is a little purple. When there is full 
breathing tie a soft string, moderately tight, around the umbilical 
cord, about two inches from the body, and another about an inch 
from that, and cut the cord'between the two strings with a pair 
of sharp scissors—all this is to prevent any blood coming from the 
child or the mother ; the end next the child becomes the navel, 
that next the mother is called the “ after-birth,” and comes away 
at the next uterine contraction ; physicians term it the Placenta. 
If the contractions do not take place within a few minutes rub 
the hand gently over the bowels, grasp the ball-like protuberance 
with the hand, and give a little pressure; and when the pain 
comes let the mother aid the expulsion by bearing down herself, 
and while the pains are continuing, not else, draw upon the cord 
gently and steadily, very much so. Sometimes more blood comes 
away than is natural; this is called 

“ FLOODING,” 

and must be arrested by dipping cloths of several thicknesses 
in the coldest water, the colder the better, laying one over the 


GESTATION. 


513 


abdomenin two or three minutes replace it with another; if 
this does not arrest the flow of blood rub a flat piece of ice, 
as large as the hand, over the lower part of the bowels, and 
put a large piece up the vagina. Sometimes there is bleeding 
after the discharge of the placenta; this is 

UTERINE HEMORRHAGE. 

This bleeding may be external or internal, known in either 
case by the patient continuing weak and not promptly reviving 
after delivery ; in that event do as before, change the cold cloths 
every minute, or lay a large flat piece of ice on the belly and keep 
ice all the time in the vagina ; ice is best for all these purposes, 
because it does not wet the bedding; if there is no ice, and the 
wet cloths fail, pour water from a pitcher from the height of 
several feet, and if needed, give some stimulating’ drink, a glass 
of wine or a tablespoon of spirits in as much water, a teaspoon¬ 
ful or two at a time ; or if much needed, drink it all down at once 
and repeat as often as necessary, until the patient begins to revive 
and the pulse comes fairly up. 

As soon as the child and placenta have come away, the mother 
still on her back, knees bent upward, let her with her hands and 
feet help her body up a little so as to allow the soiled or damp 
cloths under to be removed ; adjust the bandage around the ab¬ 
domen tight enough to give it a comfortable support; it may be 
pinned or attached with tape strings. Next inject a pint of tepid 
water up the vagina to cleanse it thoroughly, put a cold wet 
compress over the parts and a dry napkin over this ; but in case 
there has been no special bleeding use w^ater at least milk warm. 
These injections should be used night and morning for several 
days and then omitted. 

In first confinements the after pains are trifling, but these seem 
to become more and more decided after each birth ; if they 
worry the patient apply hot fomentations to the abdomen or a 
tepid injection of half a teaspoonful of laudanum in half a pint 
of water, and retain it as long as possible. For a week after de¬ 
livery the mother should eat thrice a day of gruel, mush, panada, 
fruits, toast and tea, and any kind of soup with the crust of 
bread broken into it; after that take at breakfast and dinner in 
addition eggs, fish, poultry, meats, etc., always eating regu- 
33 


51-1 HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 

, » • . 

larly, nothing between meals, and lightly at supper; but at all 
times cut the food up very.fine,, fine as a pea, and chew it delib¬ 
erately, and be careful that any vegetables used should be thor¬ 
oughly cooked, known by their being very soft through and 
through before taken from the fire; this may be known by stick¬ 
ing the fork through them. 

If the mother could be induced to begin ten days after con¬ 
finement and continue, until the child is weaned, to use wheaten 
grits as a large part of her breakfast and as a substitute for 
bread, and at dinner and supper to use bread made of the whole 
grain of the wheat, the foundation would be laid for’ strong, 
healthy, durable teeth for the child, because the material which 
makes the teeth strong and supplies the enamel is in the bran, 
which is fed to animals; and if the child were required after 
weaning to make two meals of each day, breakfast and supper, 
mainly of this cracked wheat, the teeth would be still further im¬ 
proved in strength and durability, and thus materially add to 
the health and comfort of the body in after life, since good teeth 
are essential to the proper mastication, division, and digestion of 
food during the years of childhood and youth. 

THE BREASTS, 

after confinement, require special attention; for in about three 
days there is generally a feeling of chill, with more or less of 
headache and fever, which if very decided requires some at¬ 
tention ; this is . . 

MILK FEVER, 

which may be .greatly modified, if, as soon as the slightest chilli¬ 
ness is felt, bottles of hot water were put to the feet and under 
the arms. If fever comes on and is decided, bathe the hands in 
cool water, or sponge the body with water not cold enough 
’ to impart a shock, or invite back a chill; when perspiration fol¬ 
lows fever, encourage it, but apply no liquid to the skin or any 
part of it ;• but after the perspiration has disappeared, if the body 
is sponged with alcohol and water, half and half, it is very grate¬ 
ful, if it is done quickly and not too much of the body exposed 
at one time. 

If there is fulness or pain or heat in the breasts as the milk is 


515 


CHILD-BEARING. 

appearing, have pieces of linen, four or five inches across, with as 
many thicknesses, at least four of these in a basin of cold water; 
apply one to each breast and cover witli a larger piece of dry 
flannel, change every five minutes until fully relieved. The 
more decisive the symptoms are, the colder the water ought to be. 
If relief is not had, put flannels wrung out of boiling water to 
each breast every five minutes until relieved; repeat as often 
as necessary, and at the intervals apply warm compresses, renew¬ 
ing them before they become dry. 

If there is any hardness remaining in any part of the breasts, 
patiently and gently rub such places with the warm, soft hand, 
or get an assistant to do it, half an hour at a time and several 
times during the day; by all means invite the flow of milk; if the 
child does not take away enough, use the pump or have it drawn 
by the nurse; these things are especially insisted upon as a certain 
means of preventing 

“ GATHERED BREASTS,” 

which have been the occasion of incalculable suffering to young 
mothers ; these abscesses are from allowing too much milk to ac¬ 
cumulate in the breasts, and very rarely, if ever, from cold. 

But if by any means there should be a gathering, the lancet 
should be used at the proper time; that is, when it comes to a 
head. 

. - tpz -- 


CHILD-BEARING. 

There is scarce one woman in a thousand who does not have 
it in her power to have a safe and easy delivery, with little or no 
pain, especially if she has the cooperation of a generous: and 
manly husband, and that, too, without the aid of any drug or 
medicine or vaunted anaesthetic. 

Physical pain and danger were not involved in the primal 
decree in Paradise; for the perpetuation of the race, and not 
its destruction, was the very foundation of the plans of the 
Almighty. Nor was pain a necessary concomitant of child¬ 
bearing ; it was “ sorrow,” taking the Scripture expression 
as it is*; equivalent to trouble, physical and mental; the trouble 




51G 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


of rearing children, the responsibilities, the anxieties insepa¬ 
rably attendant on the rearing of children, and that forebod¬ 
ing which is present during all the months of preparation for 
the important event of a child being brought into the world. 

As it is, notwithstanding the neglect and gross ignorance of 
mothers as to the best means of preparing for delivery, notwith¬ 
standing all the disadvantages connected with the various condi¬ 
tions of human life and poverty, it may be safely said, that not 
over one woman in a thousand, taking the world over, dies in 
child-birth. The way of obedience to the commands of the Al¬ 
mighty cannot involve the loss of life of His creatures; it is dis¬ 
obedience that is death. “ If ye love Me, keep My command- 
men ts,” with the promise in return to be a Father and a Friend 
to all such ; “ a Friend who sticketh closer than a brother.” 
This is the theory; the fact corresponds with the general testimony 
of mankind, that whole tribes and nations who live natural lives, 
nearly always in the open air, and their bodies unhampered by 
confining garments, have children safely, easily ; so much so, 
indeed, that no confinement to the bed, or chamber, or house is 
necessary, even for a day. And in this very statement we have 
the general principles laid down for the 

SAFE AND EASY CONFINEMENT 

of every mother: 

Abundant fresh air. 

Temperance in eating plain food. 

An easy mode of dressing ; every garment perfectly loose from 
the shoulders downward, not a string, or button, or pin, or band¬ 
age below the top of the shoulders. It is proposed to examine 
these things in detail, and show their bearings. 

Wandering tribes of barbarous and semi-barbarous people have 
safe and easy births, not delaying their journeyings a day, for 
four reasons : their plentiful exposure to the pure, out-door 
air; their being compelled to live on plain food, and even that 
not often over-abundant; to their large amount of exercise in. 
the open air; and to the loose nature of their clothing. These 
things combined give a high state of general health. The ex¬ 
posure to the fresh, pure air not only purifies the blood, but im¬ 
parts to it health and life, while the large amount of exercise 
gives a good appetite, insures a vigorous digestion, and thereby 


CHILD-BEARING . 


517 


secures that daily regularity of the bodily functions which is 
everywhere essential to good health, and these combined give a 
physical strength which is fully adequate to the emergency of 
bringing forth children easily and safely. 

All tl lese. things can be secured in civilized life to a still 
higher extent, without the disadvantages of exposure, and acci¬ 
dent, and scanty food, to say nothing of the dangers arising from 
storm and cold, and heating summer’s suns, and the casualties of 
uncivilized life. Hence the real truth is, that the chances of 
easy birth in civilized life are greater than among the rude and 
uncultured, if we would only live up to the light we have; be¬ 
cause we have comfortable homes, are sheltered from winds and 
rains and storms, from feverish heats, and the baleful night air 
with every required protection against changing weather and 
unseasonable seasons. In addition, we have the advantages of 
medicine, of surgical skill, in case there is necessity for their em¬ 
ployment, besides the variety and suitableness of food to meet 
the varying wants of the system, and to satisfy its unnatural 
conditions. If accident occasions diarrhoea, we can at all times 
have quiet in a warm bed, with a dietary of boiled rice, which 
in nine cases out of ten is a prompt and radical cure, without 
which the system could easily fall into a state of irritation and 
debility, or convulsions, to endanger a miscarriage, which is ten 
times more injurious and fatal than child-birth. 

If, on the other hand, by exposure to the weather, or accidental 
colds, the liver becomes torpid, and the bowels costive, or if 
from any other cause the system becomes disordered, and fever 
and want of appetite debilitate, at a time when all the strength 
possible is needed for an event which may take place at any 
hour, we can resort to the free us<£of the fruits of the orchard, 
and the luscious berries of the garden and the field, in their 
fresh or preserved state, and calculate on a speedy rectification 
of the untoward conditions—untoward, because if not corrected, 
and delivery comes on during a condition of obstinate constipa¬ 
tion, confinement becomes an agony, even if a fatal rupture of 
the bladder or other equally grave injuries do not take place as a 
direct consequence of the constipation. And so with the* easy 
rectification of other conditions, hurtful or dangerous, which ob¬ 
servation and science have placed within our reach; besides the 


518 


HALL'S FAMLLY DOCTOR 


immeasurable advantages which the uncultivated can nevei 
command. 

The one great essential for securing an easy and safe child¬ 
birth is vigorous general health; hence, the very moment it is 
known, or even suspected, that impregnation has taken place, by 
the failure of the return of the seasonable occurrence, the cata¬ 
menia, it becomes the bourn den duty of the individual to com¬ 
mence at once to inaugurate such a systematic and wise course 
of life as will be best calculated to give the highest possible 
state of general good health, that is, a good appetite and a vig¬ 
orous digestion ; for these will secure all else that is needed, and 
this can be done in almost all ordinary cases, can be dona to a 
very. great extent, even although the woman has been in bad 
health before, even although she maybe in a decline, for this one 
overwhelming reason, and of which thankful and. admiring 
note should be made, in justice and gratitude to the Infinite 
One wdio.orders all things aright and mercifully : it is a fact and 
not an argument—a fact so universal that no intelligent mind 
familiar with the subject ever thinks for a single moment of call¬ 
ing in question, that the moment a woman becomes pregnant, 
the whole system begins to undergo a marvellous change ; begins 
to arouse itself to the preparation for the w T ork of Almighty 
decree, preparation for the production of another being, to ap¬ 
pear in the image of the Maker of us all, in due time; this prep¬ 
aration is made under certain laws laid down by Omnipotence 
for the express purpose of bringing about a contemplated result, 
lie commands to “ multiply;” the command comes to every man 
and woman, that they shall do their part as far as they can; lie 
does His according to laws fixed by Himself, and lie does it in 
the very best way; that is, He has implanted an instinct in the 
system by which it becomes its nature, as soon as the foundation 
for another human being has been laid, to take upon itself a 
better and higher state of health. If there is dyspepsia, the 
dyspepsia begins to abate; if there are constitutional derange¬ 
ments, they begin to rectify themselves; and even in such ex¬ 
treme cases as consumption of the lungs strongly threatened, if a 
woman becomes pregnant the symptoms begin to disappear at 
once, and continue to improve during the whole course of preg¬ 
nancy, and if properly managed they never reappear; of, if they 
do, it is not till child-bearing has ceased. And more, there are 


CHILD-BEARING. 


519 


numerous -cases recorded in standard medical works, where 
the lungs were in an actual state of decay; impregnation took 
place, the size of the abdomen increased, pressing up against the 
stomach, with the effect in breathing and otherwise to swell out 
the lungs in such a way as to cause the opposite sides of the 
cavity to meet and grow together, as the sides of a cut on the 
finger grow together if pressed in such a way as to keep in 
proximity ; and as a deep gash on the arm will not grow together 
if the sides.are not kept in contact, so in case of an excavation 
in the lungs it would remain so, unless the sides were brought 
together as above stated. To make this a little clearer, take 
three common bladders of India rubber, empty, hold them’in a 
large glass tumbler; they do not fill it, there is space all around 
them and between them; blow in a little air through a quill, a 
little more, and a little more, and they will be seen to begin to 
touch each other at a greater number of points, and finally will 
press each other so closely that their sides meet, and no space is 
observed; the lungs are a multitude of little bladders, and are 
made to meet in the same way, by the space which they usually 
occupy being constantly diminished as they become more full 
and more distended; just as all know that when the stomach is 
very full there is more shortness of breath than usual, because it 
swells up against the lungs and gives them less room in which to 
have their full play; and so, in proportion as the child grows in 
the uterus, it presses upward, diminishing the room in which 
the lungs are to work. Thus it is that child-bearing sometimes 
cures consumption, the chances being greater the less time there 
is between the births. It is on this same principle that observ¬ 
ant and capable physicians often see, that if a patient could be 
made pregnant, she could get well, even in so serious a disease 
as consumption itself. 

There is another important operation going on in this connec¬ 
tion, explaining how it is that a woman begins to be more healthy 
when she becomes pregnant. She then has to supply nutriment 
for two, instead of one; this nutriment being conveyed through the 
blood, hence more blood being needed, the-appetite becomes more 
decided, and by a necessary arrangement in this connection, the 
digestion becomes more vigorous, by instinct, an instinct which 
the Almighty has implanted in order to insure the carrying out 
Ilis designs of perpetuating the race ; not allowing their success 


520 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


to depend upon the mere attention of the creature. Then again 
the surplus blood, for we all have a surplus in consequence of eat¬ 
ing too much and exercising or working too little, goes to the 
support of the new being, thus relieving all those conditions of the 
system which have become unnatural in consequence ot an over- 
‘ supply of blood at particular parts of it, is a means of improved 
health throughout. 

"When those parts are thus kept relieved for months, of an 
overfulness of blood, they get at length into a habit of healthful 
• action, and in many cases maintain that healthful action ever 
afterwards, and permanent health is thus restored to parts which, 
for a long time, had been in a diseased condition. For this and 
other legitimate reasons, the general truth is established that 

SICKLY "WOMEN SHOULD MAURY, 

because in very many cases it is the surest means, as just explained, 
of regaining health. In this, Mature, as in many other cases of 
disease, accomplishes what art fails to do. In proportion to the 
chances of becoming pregnant, in ordinary cases, which are at 
least nine-for and but one against, in such proportion is a woman 
likely to improve her health by marrying a strong, healthy man. 
But her chances for improved health are greater even if she does 
not become pregnant, in consequence of the complete revolution 
in all the habits of life, in going into another atmosphere, removal 
to another part of the country, changing from the prairie to the 
mountain, from the farm-house to the town, or their opposites; 
going- into a new family, where the round of food and the modes 
of preparation are widely different; or jn case of going to house¬ 
keeping, the excitements of mind, the activities of body, the 
bringing in of new activities, those-'ambitions and motives and 
moral qualities, which had been laying dormant for long years ; 
all these things involve radical changes, that “ very change of 
air,” which the physician has such frequent cause for recommend¬ 
ing, when all his special means of medicine and diet and exercise 
have signally failed to accomplish objects which, at one time, 
seemed within his easy grasp; changes general, radical, short, 
sharp, and decisive, which only marriage can command power 
of motive enough to bring about. Hence, a sickly maiden has not 
only in her favor the nine chances against one of pregnancy, but 


CHILD-BEARING. 


521 


that multitude of other chances, which radical change of air and 
food and climate, and locality and company and association, and 
an entirely new set of motives and ambitions, imperatively bring 
about. And how many have their health improved by even a 
few weeks’ changes !—as to a small part of these, let the universal 
habit of going to the country, to the sea-shore and abroad, every 
summer, testify ; all these things together making it a reasonable 
probability, if-not certainty, that a sickly single woman will have 
the health improved by marriage. 

But, after all, this is a selfish motive for marriage. There is a 
more powerful one, a moral reason, which carries with it an over¬ 
whelming force. The command of no less than Divinity is 

“ MULTIPLY AND REPLENISH.” 

Marriage is the only means, and marriage is in our power ; it 
is our duty to obey the command; to do what we can; that is 
all that is required of us ; the rest belongs to the Omnipotent 
One, and He will carry it out or not, as seems best in His sight. 
The brave soldier obeys the orders of his superior officer impli¬ 
citly, confidingly; he has nothing to do with consequences. The 

NOBLE JACK TAR 

has no other thought beyond obedience to the order from the 
quarter-deck, and shall a soldier of the cross, a child of Infinite 
Wisdom, hesitate to obey a plain, written command for fear this, 
that, or the other thing should happen? 

The path of plain duty, of plain command, is the path of safety. 
When that command is given by the kind and wise Father of 
us all, we may reasonably look for a blessing to follow every 
step on that path, and as we have seen, the very first step taken 
in marriage is attended with improved health, thus encouraging 
us from the very outset. Suppose, then, in addition to taking 
measures for this pre-ordained improvement, we bring to bear all 
the knowledge and light we have to promote the general health, 
who can tell but what in any given case, by the cooperation of the 
creature with the Creator, in bringing about a desirable and 
laudable end, a miraculously favorable result will take place ? 


522 


HALL'S FAM1L/ DOCTOR 


But we are. bound still further. We bring upon ourselves our 
own sicknesses; A servant is not released from bis duty to his 
master if he disables himself from performing that duty. If a 
man lives beyond his means, and thus becomes unable to pay a 
legal and honest debt, that does .not relieve him of the obligation. 
Even if ill-heal tli were an excuse for avoiding marriage, the duty 
presses to regain that health for the purpose of being able to 
many, and thus fulfil the duty. Marriage, then, being a means 
of health, and health being necessary to the proper performance 
of any - and all the duties of life; and, furthermore, marriage 
being legitimate, healthful, and honorable, it becomes a duty to 
all, whether sick or well; if well, they can perform the duty 
now; if not well, they should make a systematic effort to secure 
a better state of health, and then marry to complete the work. 

It is not meant that those should marry who have any fatal 
disease, any malady which is ordinarily beyond cure, nor when 
in the last stages of any disease ; but sifliply this : that if a person 
has not a good constitution, is not very vigorous, such one may 
marry as a means of health. 

If in that worst form of disease, consumption, there is merely 
a tendency to it, marriage, as a means of health, is not forbidden, 
nor is it unwise. Many persons seem to think because they can¬ 
not find that any of their predecessors have died of consumption, 
that therefore it would be strange if they should have it; and 
are very prone to think that their symptoms are not those of 
consumption, while it is apparent at a very superficial survey of 
the case that it is present in the ad.vanced stages. 

The truth really is, that after making a great number of inves¬ 
tigations, bearing directly on the point, the most eminent French 
physician in consumptive disease was compelled to acknowledge, 
against his former convictions, that consumption was not notably 
more frequent or more fatal in those who had consumptive pa¬ 
rents, than among those who had no hereditary tendency to it; 
meaning, in other words, that very healthy persons were quite as 
liable to die of consumption as those who were weakly. And it 
is very readily and very satisfactorily accounted for. The weakly 
feel the necessity of taking care of themselves habitually ; they 
know that they are very easily made sick; that even slight ex¬ 
posures make a lasting impression on the system for ill; hence, 
they are.always on their guard. While the robust, feeling strong 


CHILD-BEARING. 


523 


in tlieir vigorous health, become possessed with the hallucination 
that nothing can hurt them ; they are contemptuous of exposure, 
with the result of falling victims to acute disease, and the dis¬ 
tance between high health and the grave - is measured by a very 
few days; while the feeble, who seem as if a slight wind would 
blow them over, survive a score or two of years. And for the 
same reason, persons who are not very vigorous may marry and 
survive by many years those who are well and strong. 

This is the reasoning on the case: hard facts confirm it—for it 
is indisputably true that more single women die between twenty 
and forty-five, than married. Two-thirds of the suicides among 
women are unmarried; two-thirds of the inmates of lunatic 
asylums are single women; showing in the most indisputable 
manner that marriage promotes health, that child-bearing is a 
means of health and longevity, and of exemption from the 
worst of fates—the mad-house. In the same direction it may be 
Stated, with equal truth, that there is a multitude of human 
ailments peculiar to women which originate in celibacy; the 
Universally observed eccentricities of old maids is a direct result 
of their celibate condition, because the whole intent of tlieir 
being is thwarted, and the whole set of purposes and functions 
of the womb, associated as it is with almost every other part of 
the system, are blasted; the machinery arrested in its work, it is 
not possible that it should fail to shock the whole constitution, 
and to shake the entire fabric of a woman’s being, and which it 
indisjmtably does. 

As marriage tends to the physical salvation of woman, it also 
improves the moral nature of man ; conserves it as well as his 
health ; very few men fail to improve in health within six months 
after marriage. A large majority of men in penitentiaries are 
Under twenty-five at their first admission; married men are 
more reliable in business; the shrewd merchant will trust a 
married man when he would not think of trusting the same man 
if he were single, and had no family. The married man has a 
position, a stability in society which the bachelor never acquires. 
Voltaire said, with great truth: “The more married men, the 
fewer crimes. Marriage renders a man more virtuous and more 
wise. An unmarried man is but half of a perfect being, and 
it requires the other half to make things right; hence, it cannot 
be expected that-in this imperfect state lie can keep the straight 


524 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


path of rectitude, any more than a boat with one oar can keep a 
direct course.” 

Marriage and child-bearing, then, are thus seen to be, beyond 
all dispute, a means of health and longer life to women, notwith¬ 
standing the drawbacks of nursing, and the pains and penalties 
and dangers of child-birth, arising from inexcusable ignorance, 
or a neglect, almost universal, to live in such a manner as would 
make delivery safe, easy, and painless to all. ' And if, with all 
this inattention, child-bearing promotes health and longer life, 
much more would it do so if, during the entire time of pregnancy, 
women would conscientiously live up to the laws and light 
which have been vouchsafed to them; these general laws are 
few, and are not difficult to be complied with on the part of any 
one who has a very moderate amount of intelligence and force 
of will. The first most important thing to be attended to as 
soon as impregnation has been surmised, is the 

DRESS IN PREGNANCY. 

Two things are indispensable—warmth and looseness. 

There should be no binding on any one square inch of the 
whole body, but that which necessarily falls on the shoulders ; 
every garment except the stockings should be suspended from 
them, whether worn day or night; it would be of incalculable 
advantage if women could be induced, at least during this inter- 
esting period, to have every garment, except the stockings, ad¬ 
justed in a way that it would fit no tighter, nor bind more 
closely, and set as loosely, as a morning wrapper ; not even wear¬ 
ing garters; simply because the free flow of blood is arrested, 
and this disorders and deranges every part of the system, and 
corrupts every atom of blood in the body ; for a free circulation 
is its health and its very life ; stillness is a poison to the blood, 
just as stillness of the air we breathe in a room begins to vitiate 
every particle in that room on the instant. It is want of a free 
circulation of the blood which is the main feature of almost 
every ordinary disease, and to interfere with that circulation by 
anything which presses or binds in any part of the body 
below the shoulders is to invite to that body any and all disease^ 
which are connected with bad blood. 'The ingenuity of each 
\ woman, when her head and heart are in it, will find out methods 
of adjusting dress which will meet the most important requisi- 


CHILD-BEARING. 


525 


tion of pregnancy. Next to looseness in dress, the most impor¬ 
tant item is • . 

WARMTH OF DRESS. 

Better be too warm than too cold. One sensation of chilliness 
pervades the whole frame in its evil influences ; but as some per¬ 
sons require more clothing than others, there is but one guiding 
principle ; let each one dress in such a way as to keep off a 
feeling of chilliness, to prevent the attention being unpleasantly 
drawn to any part of the body in that connection. Every one 
knows how the mind is led to the fact that the feet are cold; it 
renders the whole person uncomfortable ; hence, direct special 
attention to that quality and quantity of dress which keeps every 
portion of the body comfortably warm; this is the great over¬ 
shadowing .idea, be “ comfortably .warm ” all the time; but to 
secure this, and to avoid the danger of a chill, woollen materials 
should cover the body and limbs the year round, except at night, 
in bed ; the main reason for wearing woollen flannel is, that it 
helps, more than any other material, to regulate the heat of the 
system ; we cannot be always on our guard against draughts of 
air, against cooling off too rapidly; and the wearing of flannel 
is a kind of self-operating arrangement; it retains the heat of 
the body, absorbs it, and thus keeps a store of it on hand all the 
time ; silk and linen and muslin carry the heat away rapidly ; 
convey it off, take it from the body, and pass it directly away to 
the surrounding air; w T oollen drawers should be worn on the 
lower limbs to protect them from cold and draughts, as well as 
the other portions of the body; for the same reason, nothing 
should be worn to distend the lower part of the dress; hoops, 
by doing that, open a wide door for cold air to come up and 
around the body, and keep it in a constant chill. As you value 
the health and life of the promised being, dress loosely, dress 
warmly, during the whole time of pregnancy, from the hour of 
conception to the moment of delivery ; it is of an importance in 
the direction of easy child-bearing, which ordinary words fail to 

express ; and scarcely less in value is 
. / « 

EATING DURING PREGNANCY. 

Eat-at three regular hours in the day, nothing whatever be¬ 
tween, and at not shorter intervals than five hours, thus allowing 


52G 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


the stomach full opportunity to pass from it what was last eateri, 
as also to give it some little time, to rest; it is eating too often, 
and not allowing that rest, which makes half the dyspeptics in 
the land. 

It is .better to eat at morning, noon, and night; a great point 
gained would be to make supper, the last meal of the day, of a cup 
of warm milk and boiled rice, or oatmeal gruel, with a cup of hot 
milk and boiling water, half and half, with or without sweeten¬ 
ing, or some oatmeal porridge; the object of such a supper 
being not to tempt the appetite. It is not likely that such a meal 
would lead to over-indulgence, and the stomach, not having much 
to do, would do its work well, would digest the meal most 
thoroughly, and would convert it into pure, nutritious, life-giving 
blood, without being overworked, or in any way distressed, with 
the result of allowing to that extent an opportunity of comfort¬ 
able 

SLEEP 

for the rest, renovation, and recuperation of the whole being, 
A bad night’s rest makes the ensuing day a day of discomfort, 
always; indisposing to the performance of ordinary duties, 
while the mind is discomposed, disquieted, unsettled, and the 
temper all awry; hence, to the extent that a moderate supper 
allows of good, refreshing sleep, it is of great importance. 

It would be of incalculable advantage to the mother and to 
the new life, if, during the entire time of pregnancy, nothing 
whatever were drunk, except pure rain-water and very fresh, 
sweet milk; these things being drunk but at meal-times.' 
Ordinary teas constringe, coffee lias various injurious effects, 
while beer, ale, wine, and spirits in all their forms excite the cir-. 
dilation unnaturally, with the inevitable result of its sinking 
afterwards in the reaction, just that much lower than the natural 
standard, causing that derangement and inequality of circulation 
and condition which to that extent deranges the general work¬ 
ing of the whole system; contributing not by any possibility one 
additional atom of strength to what was there before; for 
strength comes to the body only from the food eaten and 
healthfully digested. 

Another important benefit of a plain and moderate supper 
is, that in less than a week, if it is persevered in, the appetite for 


CHILD-BEARING. 


527 


BREAKFAST 


will be vigorous and strong, these being aids to a good digestion, 
with the advantage of having all the subsequent exercise of the 
day to expend its influences in converting the food into nourish¬ 
ing, invigorating blood, promising an enjoyable day. Too many 
know that when there is no appetite for breakfast, it is pretty 
sure to be followed by general discomfort, a want of bodily 
vigor and life, which take away all enjoyment, and instead of ac¬ 
tivity and exhilaration of spirits, there is a lassitude and indiffer¬ 
ence to what is passing around us which is as discomposing to 
others as it is uncomfortable to ourselves. 

A good and sufficient breakfast can be made, in pregnancy, of 
tapioca, sago, boiled rice, lean meat, poultry, and a drink of boiled 
milk, and boiled rain or snow or distilled water, half and half, 
these having no minerals or metals in them; with a dessert of 
fruits and berries in their fresh, raw, ripe, perfect, natural state, 
making at least half the meal of these; it is better to omit all 
meats. If fruits cannot be obtained fresh, then use those which 
are dried and preserved. But use only one kind at a meal. 
Dinner may be made in the same way, adding any one vegetable 
most liked. If fruits and berries were used liberally, very.liber¬ 
ally, at breakfast and dinner every day during pregnancy, at least 
one-half the meal made of them, they would have an opening, 
cooling, refreshing, and anti-feverish effect on the system, which 
would be of incalculable value. The acids of fruits and berries 
have a direct effect on the liver in stimulating it to its natural ac¬ 
tion of separating from the blood its waste matter and its bile, 
thus keeping the skin healthfully clear, removing from it those 
blotches of dirty yellow or brown which are often seen in preg¬ 
nancy, and which are great disfigurements. Besides making the 
blood pure, sparkling, and-bright, fruits operate directly on the 
bowels, keeping them open and free, which are inseparable from 
good health, as all persons of even limited observation know; 
preventing also a long.catalogue of ailments which attend a con¬ 
fined condition of the system, as piles, diarrhoea, and dysentery. 

THE DINNER 

may consist of lean or young meat, or poultry, a single vegetable, 
boiled rice, oatmeal porridge, leaving off, when half done, to 


528 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


complete it on some fruit. It is always best to take a cup of hot 
drink at. each meal, and it would be much better if it should con¬ 
sist of half and half boiled milk and water, sweetened to make it 
palatable: it is the warmth to the body which a cup of good tea 
imparts, which does the good, more than the tea itself, although 
it has exhilarating qualities of its own, but not as much nourish¬ 
ment as sweetened milk and water. 

It is a great aid to a temperate meal to confine one’s self to three 
different kinds of food; it is variety which tempts to over-eat, 
and it is a constant temptation; one kind of meat, one kind of 
vegetable, one kind of substitute for bread, either rice, sago, or 
tapioca, and then one kind of fruit or berry as dessert. By dis¬ 
carding wheat bread and common well or spring water, a plia¬ 
bility is given to the bones of the parts, and a softness and yield¬ 
ingness to those of the coming child, which aid most marvellously 
an easy confinement; the things allowed to be eaten are the 
natural products of the earth, and free from solid particles 
of lime and other hard substances, they all are very nutritious, 
and on them the pregnant woman will thrive and grow vigorous 
and strong for the important hour for which she is preparing. 

In this connection, some narrations will be given, of which 
good use maybe made by judicious persons, for they are very 
suggestive. A Londoner in eighteen hundred and forty-one, was 
apprehensive that his wife might not survive her next confine¬ 
ment, in consequence of the several preceding ones having been 
so exceedingly painful, even to all appearance endangering life. 
He started out on the conjecture that the more a pregnant 
woman lived on fruits and other food which contained little or 
no bone, earthy, or metallic materials, in such proportion would 
she have an easy delivery. Ilis wife had two children in three 
years ; during the last three months preceding both her con¬ 
finements, her health seemed to decline, her strength failed, her 
veins were so much enlarged with stagnant blood, that it seemed 
necessary to bandage them to prevent bursting; she increased 
greatly in weight and bulk, so much so as to impede all her 
bodily motions and greatly interfered with exercise ; at the end 
of seven months of her third pregnancy, she found herself in her 
previous conditions. She cooperated with her husband and be¬ 
gan on the first week of the eighth month by eating an apple 
and an orange the first thing after waking up in the morning 


CHILD-BEARING. 


529 


am] the same at night; nothing whatever between, but light 
meals of fruits, rice and milk, or rain water; this at once cut 
off a great part of the supply of new blood ; there was such an 
excess already, that the system was overburdened with it, and 
as by the natural processes of secretion and insensible perspiration 
the actual weight of the body decreases every twenty-four hours 
two pounds or more, this being from the blood, it is easy to see 
that the course pursued went directly to the root of the matter. 
On the fifth day, she took in addition to the apple and orange 
a whole lemon, with sugar, before breakfast, and at breakfast two 
or three roasted apples, besides a small amount of cold light 
bread and butter. During the forenoon, she took one or 
two oranges, and an apple; for dinner, a small quantity of 
fish, poultry, potatoes, greens, and apples in various forms, raw, 
roasted, or baked. In the middle of the afternoon, an apple, 
orange, or bunch of grapes were taken, and always a lemon, with 
sugar or molasses. For supper, apples or oranges, and rice or sago, 
boiled in milk ; sometimes alternating apples with raisins or figs. 

Two or three times a week she took a teaspoonful of the fol¬ 
lowing preparation. Tlie juice of two oranges, of one lemon, of 
half a pound of grapes, and a quarter of a pound of syrup. 
This course was kept up dor a month and a half, with the result that 
the prominency of the veins was removed ; all the swelling had 
disappeared from her legs and feet; her feelings of lightness and 
agility w r ere such that she could run. up stairs with greater ease 
than when in her usual health ; her general condition was most 
unusually good. Up to the hour of her confinement she was free 
from bodily discomfort, and her breasts seemed to be in their 
natural condition, although in previous confinements they be¬ 
came sore, and remained so for weeks before and afterwards. 

One evening, about two months after the treatment began, she 
was shaking a carpet in the back yard ; an hour later there were 
indications of the important event; a medical man was sent for, 
and within four hours after the carpet-shaking, the child had 
been born and the physician had left, saying it was a safe con¬ 
finement, and a more easy one than he generally met with; 
while the nurse declared that she had never witnessed a more 
easy labor. It was a boy; the bones seemed very pliable and 
soft, more like gristle, and he grew to bo a strong, athletic man. 
The mother herself was up and about in three or four days, and 
34 


530 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


conic! have been much sooner, if it had not been opposed by 
friends and neighbors, who adhered to the old prejudice of 
“ nine days.” 

It is the testimony of others who have lived for the whole 
time of pregnancy regularly, and on moderate quantities of food 
which bad but little earthy matter, that they bad easy and 
almost painless confinements, with a rapid recovery; plenty of 
milk, and healthy children. 

. Then it becomes a practical question of considerable interest, 
what are the kinds of food wdfich have the least earthy and me¬ 
tallic substances? Bread is a daily necessity; but wheat, bread 
has more mineral matter than any other grain, lienee wheat 
should be discarded in all its forms and preparations during the 
whole time of pregnancy. Water from ordinary rivers, wells, 
and springs contains a great degree of solid matter. It is known 
that in many localities, if a dead body is placed in the course of 
a running stream, it becomes a solid stone in a few years, with 
the features left at the time of burial. Any dead body may be 
petrified if a stream of cold limestone water falls upon it in such 
a way as to have the water run the whole length of the body. 
In the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky, in Weir’s Cave in Virginia, 
in caves in the interior of the island of Cuba, visited by the 
writer, immense pillars of stone rise from the floor, and others 
like icicles hang from the ceiling. Sometimes the end of a 
stone icicle meets the top of a stone pillar and they become ce¬ 
mented together, one solid piece of stone; this arises from the. 
fact that in all these places the water is strongly impregnated 
with lime, and falling slowly in drops, it is evaporated, leaving 
the solid lime to adhere to what was there before. Stone in the 
bladder is formed in the same way in the interior of the body; 
hence the bones themselves become more bony, for they are a 
preparation of lime ; therefore it clearly follows, that in order to 
make the bones of the foetus soft and yielding and compressible, 
the food of the mother which supplies the materials of growth to 
the child through the blood, should be such as has the least 
earthy or other hard substances in it: and for the same reason 
the water drank should be distilled or taken from the roof of 
houses as it falls from the clouds, for this is really distilled 
water, having been evaporated from the surface of the earth. 
The water which a man ordinarily drinks in thirty or forty 


CHILD-BEAMING. 


531 


years is computed to contain enough solid matter to make a 
statue of himself equal to his own size. 

But it need not be considered a great hardship for a woman to 
be deprived entirely of bread and water during the whole term of 
her pregnancy; because, as for drink, healthy persons who spend 
most of their time in-doors are seldom thirsty, if they eat prop¬ 
erly, and there is fluid enough in fruits and berries for all ordi¬ 
nary purposes. If thirsty, buttermilk is an admirably healthy 
drink. Still, rain-water and melted snow are admissible ; a lem¬ 
onade made of these could be drank every day to advantage by 
pregnant women, alternating with buttermilk; it is their acid 
constituents which are healthful. The farina and flour made of 
wheat contain a considerable amount of lime, a pound or more 
in a year’s consumption. The pregnant woman should then seek 
to avoid as food and drink such articles as have solid matters in 
them, and in their stead use those which are known to contain lit¬ 
tle or none. Cheese, for example, made from the milk of the cow 
has one-twentieth part less of solid matter than wheat bread, 
while the fruits and berries have two hundred times less. But 
while wheat bread and water ought to be dispensed with during 
pregnancy, in order to give greater pliability and softness to the 
bones of the foetus, there are many things wdiich are not onlv 
not liable to the same objections, but are of a positive benefit in 
various directions, in the way of cooling the system, keeping it 
open, preventing fevers, and promoting a vigorous and healthful 
digestion, as the following list will show: 


Apples, 

Cherries, 

Limes, 

Apricots, 

Cranberries, 

Mangel V.Lirzel, 

Artichokes, 

Cucumbers, 

Marrows, 

Asparagus, 

Dates, 

Melons, 

Beans, 

Endives, 

Mushrooms, 

Beets, 

Figs, 

Nectarines, 

Blackberries, 

Fish, 

Oats, 

Broccoli, 

Garlic, 

Olives, 

Cabbages, 

Gooseberries, 

Onions, 

Carrots, 

Grapes, 

Oranges, 

Cauliflower, 

Leeks, 

Parsley, 

Celery, 

Lemons, 

Parsnips, 

Cheese, 

Lettuce, 

Peaches, 


532 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


Peas, 

Pears, 

Plums, 

Pomegranates 

Poultry, 

Radishes, 


Raisins, 

Raspberries, 

Rhubarb, 

Rice, 

Eye, 

Sago, 


Savoy, 

Strawberries, 
Tapioca, 
Turnips, 
Young Meats. 


Any of the above articles can be eaten in moderation at regu¬ 
lar meals, nothing whatever' between ; only two or three at a 
time, with oatmeal porridge, rice, sago, or tapioca as a substitute 
for other forms of grain food or bread, but aiming all the time 
to make as large a part of each meal as possible of fruits, and ber¬ 
ries, and lean meats, omitting altogether the whole list of spices, 
peppers, mustards, sauces, and whatever may come under the 
list of condiments, fats, grease, and sugars. 

On the other hand, just as soon as the child is born, the food 
eaten in addition to fruits, berries, and lean meats, should con¬ 
sist very largely of those articles which help to make bone, the 
most prominent of all being that very bread which is said with 
great truth to be the 


STAFF OF LIFE, 

because, when made of the whole product of the wheat berry, it 
contains most of the elements of solid, substantial, nourishing 
food; food which makes good flesh, firm bone, durable teeth. 
There is no science pertaining to human health and comfort and 
beauty which has made such large advances, so large, indeed, as 
to be almost wonderful, in the last forty years, as 

DENTISTRY. 

Earnest philosophical search in this branch has demonstrated 
that the teeth of the people are becoming more and more dete¬ 
riorated with each successive generation; they are so soft as to 
make them liable to injuries from such a variety of sources, that 
girls in their teens begin to lose their best teeth, and many per¬ 
sons at forty have false teeth, and some have not a natural tooth 
in their heads, all artificial. The cause has been traced largely, 
and as the very chief, in the increasing fanaticism of the people 
for 


CHILD-BEARING. 


533 


WHITE FLOUR, 

not knowing that tlie whiter the flour is, the more worthless for 
all nutrient qualities. Flour can be made so white as to contain 
no more nutriment than the starch used to make a shirt collar 
stand up. For many years it has been a trick among the most 
wily millers, when they wanted to secure the first premiums for 
fine flour at State fairs, to take everything out of the flour but 
its starch; and they keep these “ Premium 55 barrels in their 
mills, in this very city of New York, to show their customers 
what beautiful flour they can make, but they do not dare to sell 
it, because it would ruin their reputation; no one could make 
bread out of it; no intelligent baker would give a dollar a barrel 
for it, for baking purposes, because it would never rise ; for there 
is no 

GLUTEN 

in it. This gluten is yellowish, but at the same time it is the element, 
and that alone, in the wheat grain, which contains any nourishment; 
it is the gluten of the wheat which makes light bread; it is the 
gluten which contains that which makes strong bones, durable teeth 
and firm flesh. This gluten is that part of the wheat grain which is 
found immediately under the outer coat, the part which is known 
as bran. But when the wheat is ground, containing bran, 
gluten, and all, so much of this gluten sticks to the little scales of 
bran which are sifted out of the flour as to materially diminish 
the value of the product for purposes of food and nutriment. 
Strict chemical analysis has shown that one-fifth of the actual 
nutriment of the wheat grain sticks to the bran, is lost for purpo¬ 
ses of human food in the process of grinding and making into 
flour, and is fed to domestic animals; and as it is this which 
gives durability and beauty and strength to the teeth, and its 
absence is ruining the teeth of the rising generation, the most 
eminent dentists urgently recommend to all parents, who have 
the intelligence to appreciate these facts, to require their children 
from the age of four years to eat that bread only which is known 
as bran bread,which is made of the whole product of the grain, 
and thus save in the food of the child that very element which 
is absolutely essential to make durable teeth, strong bones, and 
well-developed muscles; and in order to make it more palpably 


534 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


clear to tlie masses, Dr. John Allen, styled the father of Ameri¬ 
can dentistry, has collected numerous facts, showing how much 
solid matter is in bread made of the whole of the wheat grain, 
and how much of it is lost when the finest wheat-flour is used 
to make bread. 

Liebig, the greatest chemist of the age, says, “ nearly an entire 
half of the nutritive salts are wanting in flour,” meaning thereby, 
that when we eat our finest, whitest, merchantable flour, one- 
half of its hard, its mineral portions, the parts which make 
bone and teeth, the lime and magnesia, are lost. This-is the rea¬ 
son that our bread, our white bread, does not nourish us as much 
as it ought to do ; nearly one half of the essence of the grain is 
irretrievably lost in our present method of grinding wheat into 
flour, lost to the bones, lost to the teeth, lost to the muscle, and 
lost to the brain ; hence, the immeasurable importance that nurs¬ 
ing women should eat bread which is made of the whole wheat 
grain, as found in wheaten grits and graham preparations. 

These statements have been made at length for the express 
purpose of impressing on the minds of pregnant women the 
prime importance of not using wheat bread, and common spring 
or well water, during their pregnancy, if they wish to have a 
safe, easy, and speedy birth. 

And for the same reason, this wheaten bread, made of the 
whole of the grain, should be eaten as much as possible from the 
day of delivery, not only as a means of strengthening themselves, 
but to develop the new-born child, to harden its bones, to give it 
firmness of muscle, and to lay the foundation for good, strong, 
durable teeth. It is impossible to conceive the full bearing on 
human health and happiness and prosperity in mind and morals 
and materiality, which a diet of the kind named during preg¬ 
nancy, and of that advised after pregnancy, would have; that 
after delivery being of fruits, berries, lean meats, and bread 
made of the whole wheat grain, not excluding now and 
then anything else that other people eat, in moderate quantities, 
and only at regular meals. The strongest of all human motives 
urge to adopt a course of this kind, personal health, comfort, 
and safety, the well-being of the fruit of the womb, its safety 
and health, and comfort during childhood, to say nothing of the 
advantages of after life of having a well-developed body, a strong, 
muscular frame, and that buoyancy of mind and heart which 


CHILD-BEARING. 


535 


are inseparable from good liealtli. Surely tlie woman who 
is unwilling to submit to the course laid down, which really has 
no sacrifice in it, is not deserving the name of woman, wife, 
mother. 

The subject is of sufficient importance to make it worth the 
while of the truly benevolent to have these statements printed 
in tract form, and scattered gratuitously to the four winds of 
heaven, until not a family in the land will be without a copy. 

If persons want to be aided in these modes of life, such as¬ 
sistance can be had by resorting to some of the best-conducted 

WATER-CURES 

in the- land, where the modes of diet laid down are followed 
out, and where the guests have all these things spread before 
them on the table every day. None of the bathings need be 
taken ; it is only necessary that they should enroll themselves as 
boarders, as at ordinary hotels. To some extent this lias been 
done ; women have been found who have had conscientious and 
intelligent views on this subject, and husbands of generous 
natures, and manly impulses, and hearts full of noble sympathies, 
and a pure love, who have heartily cooperated with their wives, 
and promptly and gladly aided them in carrying out their views; 
with the very uniform, almost unvarying, result of having their 
expectations most encouragingly realized. Reports to this effect 
have come to the knowledge of the writer from individuals, and 
various publications, confirming in the strongest manner the gen¬ 
eral views that— 

Such preparations can be made by women as to modes of life, 
eating, and dress, during pregnancy, as will insure, in all cases, 
deliveries more safe, more easy, more expeditious, than can pos¬ 
sibly be had under the usual modes of living, and that— 

Mothers may live on such a diet, and in such a manner while 
nursing their infants as will secure to those infants a certainty of 
survival of infancy, a healthfulness during childhood and youth, 
which under the ordinary mode of living during the nursing 
period are simply impossible. 

Besides attention to loose dressing*and a fruit diet during preg¬ 
nancy, as means of insuring safe delivery, there are other things 
which have a favorable bearing in the same direction, all tending 
to secure and maintain a high state of general health. 


536 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR . 


OUT-DOOR AIR 


is an absolute necessity to the pregnant woman ; any kind of 
air, night or day, out-door air; but that is best which is dry 
and sunshiny. Three or four hours in the forenoon, two or 
three in the afternoon from the first of April until the first of 
December; but for the remainder of the year, two or three hours 
including one o’clock in the afternoon: for before that time in 
the morning, and after that at the close of the day, there is gen¬ 
erally a dampness, a heaviness, and a rawness in the atmosphere, 
which had best be avoided unless the person is employed actively 
enough to keep off all feeling of chilliness. 

The reader is urged to spare the writer the necessity of ex¬ 
plaining and enforcing at length the value of out-door air in this 
connection. Let it be sufficient to appeal to your own observa¬ 
tion of the actual facts. Go out any day as above, and see if 
there is not a joyousness in it, an exhilaration during the airing, 
a relish for the next meal afterwards, and a sleep the following 
night, either one of which would repay for the trouble taken. 
The truth is, every breath of out-door air is a benefit, for every 
breath takes away from the blood in the lungs an appreciable 
amount of its impurity, depositing in its place, literally, an equal 
amount of vigor and life, all of which goes directly to the life 
within, making it more healthful, making it more a life than it 
was before. Methinks a pregnant mother would begrudge every 
breath not drawn in the glorious out-of-doors sunshine. In this 
connection let the 


MANLY HUSBAND 

bring to bear the gallantry of his courting days, and be as ready 
as then to “ take a walk,” and talk over old times; talk of all 
the pleasant things and interesting things and encouraging things 
he can think of; and when he cannot go himself, arrange to 
have a substitute as near as possible, in obtaining some lively, 
cheerful, intelligent companion, one full of life and electricity, 
so that the time may be whiled away more pleasantly, the blood 
may have a more vigorous flow, and deeper draughts may be 
taken of the luscious air. 


GUILD-BEARING. 


537 


THE OCCUPATION 

of the pregnant woman while in-doors is of considerable import¬ 
ance ; all hard manual labor should be laid aside; everything 
which is tedious or to be long continued; all work requiring 
closeness of application should be dispensed with; everything 
requiring haste or hurry or involving much responsibility; 
everything should be kept from the mind calculated to worry; 
all suspense, anxious anticipation, sudden announcements of 
good or ill; in short, all that is possible should be done to pro : 
mote tranquillity of mind, evenness of temper, and vivacity of 
disposition. More is necessary; the husband and other members 
of the family should aim in all they say or do to encourage, to 
support, to strengthen. At the same time she should be busy, 
but never to the extent of actual fatigue; better to be engaged 
at one thing a little while, and before tiredness comes on, rest. 
Exercise or work of any kind persisted in until the person is 
fagged out, always does more harm than good; women are 
peculiarly liable to errors of this kind; they often undertake 
more than they are able to accomplish; they miscalculate their 
strength; their ambition exceeds their capabilities; and their 
anxiety to complete what they have begun frequently leads 
them to continue in their work far beyond their ability ; these 
things in the pregnant woman are peculiarly injurious, and in 
multitudes of cases cause miscarriages and premature births, 
endangering, and not unfrequently causing the death of both 
mother and child. At the same time exercise is a necessity, but 
work is immeasurably superior to mere exercise; work which 
interests the mind, which is agreeable, which meets the tastes 
• and inclinations and the ambitions; work which may be done or 
not, as is agreeable; which can be abandoned any moment for 
a day or week or month or more, or which may be committed to 
others. 

EXERCISE 

is of such incalculable importance to every pregnant woman 
during the whole time, to be kept up until she is admonished 
that the hour has come, not only the exercise itself, but the kind 
of exercise, and the manner of it, that the following narration 


538 


HALL'S FAMLLT DOCTOR. 


is made at length, with a view to give the fullest idea possible of 
the kind which will meet all the requisitions, with the assurance 
to every expectant mother who reads the statement, that the- 
chances of an easy delivery will be very greatly increased by 
carrying out the general principles as far as practicable. All 
the facts came under the author’s supervision; nothing is 
left for inference or stated on the information of others, and it 
covers the whole subject. 

A lady occupied a beautiful home on the banks of the Hudson. 
She had been wishing for some time that she had a house in 
New York. Her husband purchased one in a very desirable 
locality in December, possession to be given on the first of May 
following. She w T as very greatly delighted; it seemed to her to 
be the realization of the dreams of many years. Being a lady 
of intelligence, of systematic habits and of forethought, she be¬ 
gan at once to make the preparations necessary for a removal. 
Her whole being seemed to be absorbed in the work before her. 
She had been pregnant tw r o months. She began to arrange mat¬ 
ters in such a manner that moving should be attended with as little 
discomfort and loss and breakage as possible. She worked leis¬ 
urely, everything was done with deliberation, done well, done 
thoroughly, running through several months. When the first of 
May arrived, everything was ready, every box was nailed, every 
trunk was locked, and these with every separate package were 
distinctly labelled; the wdiole thing was systematically done ; so 
much so, that it is best illustrated by stating that the carpets 
were put in the conveyance last, because in going into a new 
house the carpets would be the first thing wanted, and they 
would be the first things to come to hand, as a matter of course. 
The whole removal and change was made without trouble, or 
annoyance, or breakage, or delay; safely deposited in the new 
home. Then began the work of arranging, and fitting, and fix¬ 
ing. Every room had to be furnished, every carpet laid, every 
painting hung, every curtain adjusted, to suit the circumstances of 
the case. Then there were the outside adornments; the grass-plot 
and the “ borders,” the vines and the bushes, the annuals and the 
perennials, all to be planted so as to meet certain desirable requi¬ 
sitions. One summer morning in August she was in the garden, 
and was called to the bedchamber; the family physician was sent 
for, her husband was reclining near her, holding her hand in his; 


CUILB-BEARIN G. 


539 


the doctor had barely taken his place at the bedside, a single 
strain, not two, a little wail, and the child was born ; walking 
on the avenue to-day, in all the pride of womanly beauty and 
physical perfection, larger than either father or mother. This was 
the fourth birth. The third was widely different; it was tedious 
and painful, with a long and weary getting up ; and such a tiny, 
puny child, that it was scarcely expected to survive the period of 
infancy. The nine months were spent in a boarding-house, with 
•nothing to do but eat, and sleep, and dress, with all the discom¬ 
forts and annoyances of that mischievous modern institution. 

If nothing better can be done, walking is a substitute for inter- 
ested occupations, and is better than nothing; this should be kept 
up until the day of confinement. The only direction to be 
given with safety in reference to the question, “ How much am I 
to walk ? ” is that it should stop short of much fatigue; stop 
when a little tired, but continue it until there is a little tired¬ 
ness.- There may be circumstances which forbid walking; if 
so, it is a misfortune to be lamented; the exercise is necessary 
for all that. A man may be on the point of starving for want 
of something to eat; his not being able to get it does not make 
food less necessary. The idea is put in this light because there 
are now and then women of such little energy and force of char¬ 
acter that they are glad of an excuse for not taking a walk. 

The children of Israel increased their numbers with great 
rapidity under .the task-masters of Egypt; it was not a whit 
abated when they had to hunt their own straw to make bricks; 
if anything, they were more prolific than before, and had more 
robust children. 

The slave mothers of Virginia in the olden time brought an 
immense annual revenue to their masters in furnishing a supply 
to the more southern portions of the country, to work on cotton 
and sugar plantations. Steady work, plain nourishing food, these 
are the great requisitions for safe and easy confinements, for a 
rapid getting up, and for hale and hearty children. It would be 
an inexcusable oversight if nothing were said on the subject of 
influencing the moral character of the child as well as the pliysi- 
cal, and yet that 

MORAL CHARACTER 

is moulded by the mother; whatever is her condition, during ges- 


540 


HALL'S FAMLLT DOCTOR 


tation, as to the affections and passions and sentiments, will inev 
itably give color to tlie affections and passions and sentiments of 
the child that is to be; and the more continuously the mother is 
under the influence of these affections, passions, and sentiments, 
the more deeply will they impinge themselves on the character of 
the one yet to be born. So palpable is this, that the idea has 
been advocated from the earliest ages, and among all nations, by 
men of eminence and distinction. And yet during the present 
times there does not seem to be any recognition of the important 
fact; it appears to have been passed over as one of those in¬ 
definite and obscure things which are not deserving of special 
attention, as being too much in the mist to be of any practical 
value. It is hoped, however, that at no distant period in the fu¬ 
ture, men and women may begin to wake up to the fact that both 
the physical condition, and mental and moral character of the 
child, is shaped by the father and the mother, and that responsi¬ 
bility will be felt with increasing pressure in this direction. The 
whole subject is commended to the thoughtful consideration of 
cultivated minds, and to all those who endeavor to be guided in 
the light of Christian principles and moral obligations. The fol¬ 
lowing narration has come within the author’s personal observa¬ 
tion in its most important features, and is literally true. 

Nearly a hundred years ago a young lady of education found 
herself the orphaned daughter of a rich man. She married a 
gentleman of good family, of a frank, liberal, and genial nature, 
lie lived freely, spent lavishly, and suddenly died, in the second 
month of his wife’s pregnancy. Iiis affairs seemed to have been 
left in a condition so complicated that his wife did not know 
whether she was left destitute or not. Having all that pride 
which naturally belonged to one who had been raised in wealth 
and luxury, the thought of her changed condition, and the appre¬ 
hension of some things which might be in store for her threw 
her into a confirmed melancholy. Her dread of the future was 
terrible. At times she wanted to hide herself away from human 
view in the recesses of the forest. Under these mental and 
moral conditions her daughter was born, but her forebodings 
were never realized; she had an adequate income to the close of 
life, and died at the age of seventy-five years, in circumstances of 
unusual comfort. The daughter at a very early age would be 
often missed, and when found would be sitting in some out-of- 


CHILD-BEARING. 


541 


the-way corner, crying most bitterly, and on being asked what 
was the matter, would exclaim in tones the most depressing possi¬ 
ble, “ we will ha\ T e nothing to eat to-morrow.” At other times 
she would run into the woods, climb trees, jump fences, wade into 
the water, bareheaded, barefooted, racing along the highway or 
through fields and orchards, her long black hair streaming in the 
wind, face sunburnt, and more like a young Indian than any¬ 
thing else ; if anything thwarted her, she would lie down in the 
road, stiffen herself, and remain there by the hour, yielding to no 
persuasion to move or change ; and through a life of sixty years, 
the one impending gloomy cloud hung over her, the undefinable 
fear of some future ill; she could scarcely tell what, but which 
never came. Dying itself was so easy that, in reference to her fears 
of the last mortal agony, she said to a friend, “ who would have 
thought it?” meaning thereby that death was so much easier than 
for a lifetime she had supposed it would' be. It w T as a death 
without pain: life went out like the candle in its socket, like the 
embers on the hearth. 

These narrations have been given at length, because they are 
known to be literally true, and because they shadow forth, in clear, 
shining characters, a great fact and a great lesson. The fact is, 
that the predominant states of mind during gestation mould the 
moral character of the offspring, give shape and tone and color¬ 
ing to it, and not only to children, but to children’s children. 
From the days of Hannah and Samuel it was so, and it may be 
set down as a law of nature, fixing, as it does, on the mother, to a 
large extent, the responsibility for the moral character of her 
children, thus presenting to her mind the highest possible motive, 
to live in such a way, physically and morally, during gestation, as 
to secure for her child a vigorous constitution, and a moral charac¬ 
ter which shall fit it for the highest duties of life and an im¬ 
mortality beyond. p 229. 

Another object in the specifications is to impress upon the 
mind the 

USELESSNESS AND IIUKTFULNESS 

of anticipating evil; in both the cases named, the things feared 
not only never came to pass, but their very reverse took place— 
a reverse so signal, as to well merit a lasting impression on the 
mind of every reader; hence it follows that every gloomy thought, 


543 


FILL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


every foreboding, every hour of sadness and of shade was a clear 
loss to the sum of a life of sunshine, to say nothing of the fact 
that sad anticipations never by any possibility do any good; on 
the contrary, they are obstacles tending to bring about the very 
evils anticipated. 

THE NEW-BORN CHILD, 

being passed from the physician to the nurse, should be laid 
on its right side, a short distance from the mother, and covered 
over so as to be kept abundantly warm, care being taken to re¬ 
move any obstructions from the mouth and nose; then, after a lit¬ 
tle resting, some rub a little oil all over the body, then gently 
wash with water not over ninety degrees, using Castile soap, with 
a soft sponge, rubbing a little hard to get from the skin that 
greasy, curd-like substance which covers it; special care must be 
taken to remove it from the eyelids, .armpits, groins, behind the 
ears, as well as from all the creases and folds of the skin; a soft 
sponge will answer the purpose. In ten or twelve hours repeat 
this washing, so as to be sure to remove any remnants of the 
coating, for it is apt to get hard, and irritate the skin; after the 
sponging, wipe the whole surface dry with a soft cloth. Look at 
the navel-string before the physician has left, and if all right, 
double up an old soft rag of linen, five inches across, three or 
four thicknesses ; cut a hole in the centre, large enough to allow 
the cord to be drawn through, fold the cloth over the cord, and 
secure it by a belly-band around the child of thin soft flannel, 
long enough to reach around the body, and about four inches 
broad ; it is not really necessary, the original intent of it being to 
keep the compress at the navel in its place, the popular idea run¬ 
ning into the absurdity of preventing protrusion of the bowels 
from the crying of the child. But such incalculable injury has 
been done to infants by making this girdle bind so tightly, that it 
is better to omit it altogether, and devise other means to keep the 
navel compress in its place. Grown persons have only to imag¬ 
ine the discomfort which they would experience, if they were 
bandaged tightly after or just before eating a hearty meal, as an 
infant is bandaged just before or after a nursing; it is a positive 
barbarism, and is enough to ruin the stomach of any infant sub¬ 
jected to such an infliction; and no doubt it has led to fretful¬ 
ness and crying and severe pains, and a nervousness akin to con- 


CIIILD-BEAIIIN G. 


54 ;; 

vulsions in innumerable cases. Xo pin or button should ever be 
allowed about an infant; use strings, and 

DRESS TIIE CHILD 

very loosely, so that no motion of the body will be impeded ; 
hence, no dress should extend beyond the feet, although it is al- 
most universal to have the dress a foot or two longer, under the 
impression that it is necessary to keep the child warm. It is 
more necessary that it should have room to kick about its feet, 
and thus keep the blood in circulation, and generate the warmth 
from within; this is the only healthful warmth that ought to be 
retained by suitable covering to the feet and limbs, but by all 
means let these be free. Put no cap on the head, nor use a pin 
in any part of the clothing. The entire clothing should be 
changed twice a day at least, and always in such a way as not to 
endanger taking cold. Close all the doors and windows so as to* 
avoid draughts of air, and the room should not be cooler in 
winter than seventy degrees. 

If the breasts are at all hard, rub them gently and often with 
warm almond oil; let the rubbing be gentle and frequent. If 
the breasts are large, hard, painful, and red, cold-water com¬ 
presses, renewed every half-hour, and a milk-and-bread poultice 
at night, especially if the bow T els are kept a little lax, will remove 
the trouble in a day or two. 

If, a few days after birth, any little tumor is seen on the scalp 
from any cause, rub it gently two or three times a day with 
spirits of wine or camphor; if it lasts ten days or longer, apply 
cloths steeped in lime-water or weak spirits every hour during 
the day, until it goes down. 

If the child’s head seems to be out of shape, let it alone, it 
will rectify itself ; dangerous results have followed ignorant tam¬ 
perings by nurses. 

In difficult labor, the face and eves of the child are at times 
discolored ; let them alone ; nature and the proper management 
of the child will bring it all right, as will also be done in refer¬ 
ence to little scratches and wounds accidentally made. 

If the child passes no water within twenty hours after birth, a 
warm bath w T ill rectify it. 

The child should be put to the breast within six hours after 


544 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR 


birtli. Do not delay it longer than ten hours. If necessary, 
give a teaspoonful or two at a time, a little barley-water, sweetened, 
or milk and water, or very thin gruel. It takes a baby just born 
a long time to carry into the stomach one teaspoonful, and the 
stomach at first will not hold more than two tablespoonfuls of 
liquid. 

For the first week the infant should be nursed every two hours 
during the daytime; at three hours’ interval from bedtime to 
-^sunrise; make it wait. 

After one week, feed it every three hours during the day¬ 
time; then, at bedtime, once in the middle of the night, and then 
at daylight. This may be continued for six weeks or two 
months; then at intervals of five hours, from sunrise to ten 
o’clock at night, and no feeding during that interval. At three 
months old, the child should be habituated to take nothing from 
the time of its going to bed for the night until breakfast next 
morning. With this regularity of eating, a child may be allowed 
to take as much as it wants, whether nursed naturally or artifi¬ 
cially. 

It is impossible to convey to the mother’s mind a full idea of 
the importance of this system of feeding children regularly, 
except that an infant should not be waked up to be fed, nor for 
that matter, no living being should be waked up to eat, or to take 
medicine. If regular nursing were systematically followed out, 
it would materially influence the whole subsequent destiny of 
both mother and child. The child will not fret one quarter as 
much, nor will it interfere with the mother’s sleep materially ; 
thus saving her from exhaustion, and from a day of subsequent 
miserableness, as often as she is allowed to have all the sleep she 
can take at night. 

It is the want of refreshing sleep at night which gives nursing 
women that draggled, exhausted appearance which is so common 
to them. 

It is irregular feeding that kills half the children who die be¬ 
fore they reach the age of three years, and which keeps so many 
households in a turmoil half the time, from the cries of colicky 
babies and sick nurslings. 

It is the almost universal practice of mothers to put the in¬ 
fant to the breast the moment it begins to cry, supposing that it 
is crying because it is hungry, when nine times out of ten it cries . 


CHILD-BEARING. 


545 


because it lias the colic, caused by wind on the stomach as a re¬ 
sult of acidity or indigestion. 

Nothing is more distressing to a young mother than the wail of 
an infant; a child’s cry always pierces her heart; to hear that 
wail or cry for almost every hour of every day is a source of in¬ 
finite worry; on the other hand, not to hear it, on an average, 
once a week, makes a difference wide as the poles asunder, in the 
amount of a mother’s comfort; hence, she should bear in mind 
that nine-tenths of an infant’s crying arises from a disordered 
stomach, arises from irregular feeding; and when she can infal- 
libly remedy this by the simple expedient of regular feeding, it 
becomes a criminality to both child and mother, in fact, to every 
member of the family, servants, and all; for a sick infant inter¬ 
feres with the comfort of a whole household, in interfering with 
sleep, or imposing additional labor; to say nothing of the dis- 
quietude of mind throughout the house, for no human being can 
hear a child’s cry without more or less sympathy or other annoy¬ 
ance. This exemption from eiying procures an exemption from 
medicine, from taking those innumerable compounds of soothing- 
syrups which ignorance prompts to give, or which muses are 
hired to advise. 

All remedies given to quiet nursing children contain opium in 
some form or other, or some kind of anodyne, which never can 
be taken, by child or adult, a single time, without leaving its 
mark of injury. Half the cases of water on the brain, of 

INFLAMMATION OF THE BRAIN, 

in children, is the result of giving soothing-syrups, opiates, pare 
goric, laudanum, and similar drugs to 

QUIET CHILDREN. 

I % 

None of these things remove an ailment; by no possibility do 
they eradicate anything ; they only smother, to eventually destroy, 
and they will inevitably destroy health, and life itself, if per¬ 
severed in. One . dose makes another more necessary. The use 
of these things this week makes them more indispensable the 
next; and thus it goes on, with increasing ill results, to leave 
life-long impressions for ill on the constitution, even when they 
35 


546 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


do not kill outright. It should be borne in mind all the time 

o 

that when 

THE BABY CRIES 

it is because something hurts it. If it is simply restless, fretful, 
or uneasy, it is because there is bodily discomfort somewhere, 
external or internal; nine times out of ten it is external, in a 
pin, or over-tight strings, or buttons, or some uneven thing in the 
clothing or bed. The first thing to be done is to lift the child 
up, or change its position ; if still fretful, look for pins, or too 
tight strings ; if still no relief, and it has had the regular feed¬ 
ing, it is very certain that the pain comes from within, and that 
the stomach is the locality. If so, relief is often had by rubbing 
its little stomach with the mother’s own hand, gently and pa¬ 
tiently; if more decided measures are needed, apply warm 
flannels to the abdomen, or put it in a warm bath ; in some of 
these ways relief will almost always be had in vomiting or 
passing wind ; then at the next time for feeding give a little less. 

Suppose some quieting medicine had been given, this undi¬ 
gested mass would have remained in the stomach, then passed 
into the bowels, with the inevitable diarrhoea or convulsions ; 
oftentimes laying the foundation for tedious summer complaints. 

But a very common practice is to give something to stop the 
baby from crying; then, when the diarrhoea follows, to give that 
same thing to stop the diarrhoea, and so it does; it becomes a 
famous medicine: it keeps the infant from crying, it cures 
diarrhoea, it is infallible in summer complaints ; but sooner or 
later, or within a very few days, inflammation of the brain comes 
on, and the child dies; the mother does not note the connection ; 
she does remember, however, how it kept the baby cpiiet, how it 
stopped the diarrhoea, and how it promoted sleep; and when the 
next child is born, the same course is followed up with the same 
results, blighting the mother’s whole after life, for she mever can 
forget her first-born dead: its image rises up before her, ever 
after to move to pity, or to tears, or to heartache. It is literally 
true that millions of little graves would be left unopened every 
year, if nursing children were regularly fed with their mother’s 
milk on the principles detailed above. 

At the end of two years there is no reason why children should 
not be limited to three meals a day, never by any chance allow- 


CHILD-BEARING. 


547 


mg anything between, unless, perhaps, a single apple, or orange, 
or banana, or a teacupful of berries in their ripe, raw, perfect, 
natural state, midway between meals ; always, however* making 
the last meal of the day at the end of the second year of bread 
and butter and some warm drink, the most unobjectionable being 
a cup of milk and water, half and half, both having been boiled ; 
now and then there may be substituted mush and milk, boiled 
rice and milk, or wheaten grits, or porridge ; the point being one 
thing for supper, that one thing not meat; the object in being 
limited to one thing being, not that half a dozen things mixed up 
■would not be quite as good, if the quantity was the same, not to 
tempt the appetite to take more than the system needs ; if a child 
is at* the table where but one thing is to eat, it will satisfy itself 
with that one thing, and will not eat too much, if it is plain food 
and is not a great rarity; but if there are several different 
articles, and the child is left to itself, it will eat as much in quan¬ 
tity of each as it would of one, the result being that it has been 
tempted by variety to eat three times as much as nature re¬ 
quired, with inevitable ill results. Then there is a 

MORAL REASON 

for placing children at the supper-table where only one thing is 
seen ; they naturally want some of everything that is going, and 
if it is refused, their little feelings are hurt to an extent a parent 
does not dream of, especially if the parents partake of what 
is forbidden them. For this reason it is greatly better that 
children should be seated at their own table for the last meal of 
the day, and when they are through, their hearts are light, their 
stomachs "are full, and they are in a state of enviable joyousness, 
will play a little while, then go to bed, happy in heart and well 
in body, with the certain result of waking up to a good appetite 
for breakfast, having had a delicious sleep all through the night. 

If at breakfast and dinner children were confined to one drink 
and two or three different articles of food; that is, bread and 
meat and a vegetable, with one fruit or one kind of berry at any 
one dessert, they may be safely allowed to eat as much as they 
want. But never, under any circumstances, compel a child to eat 
what it does not want; it is an unmixed and an unreasoning 
cruelty. You may, if there is any good reason for it, require a 


543 


HALL'S FAMLLY DOCTOR . 


child to eat what you wish it to eat, or eat nothing at all until 
the next meal; but to force it to eat should never be done. 

But to return to the new-born infant: after its birth there re¬ 
mains a fluid in the stomach of a dark color, called 

MECONIUM. 


Nature generally causes this to be passed out of the stomach in 
her own way. The mother’s milk, the first that comes, called 
the 

CO LUSTRUM, 

seems to have a laxative effect by express design. If, however, 
this does not occur in five or six hours, take one teaspoonful of 
castor-oil and three of rose or rain-water; give one teaspoonful 
every four hours until relieved, mixing it well before each repe¬ 
tition ; but it is better to try first a teaspoonful of whey, sweet¬ 
ened a little. Sometimes the same amount of sweetened water 
will answer the purpose. 

It is necessary to go back to the birth of the child and its first 
dressing. Next in importance to proper feeding is the dress of 
the infant, bearing always in mind two things: 

LOOSENESS AND WARMTH. 

To keep the child abundantly warm from the hour of its birth 
doubles at once the chances of its life. An alarming number of 
infants die from exposure to cold, from the want of being kept 
comfortably warm every instant of existence. And as the 
weather is liable to great, frequent, and sudden changes, and as 
the warmth of a room is very apt to be neglected, the greatest 
safety is in abundant clothing, which for the first few months of 
life should be of flannel, very fine, very soft, and very clean. 
During the first weeks of infancy the dressing should be per¬ 
formed with great deliberation, tenderness, and care; no hurry, 
no roughness; everything should be as gently done as possible, 
and to this end the mother should do this as soon as convenient, 
for the child’s sake, while the exercise and employment will do 
her good also. Everything done and said should be said and done 
most tenderly; no jerking, no loud words, no harsh tones, no 


CHILD-BEARING. 


540 


impatient sounds or motions; the only words spoken' should he 
words of cheerfulness, for there is no harshness there, and the 
new-born learns to note the difference in less than a week; by 
doing these things deliberately, tenderly, lovingly, cheerfully, 
you will encourage the little one to welcome the bathing and 
washing with a “ crow 57 instead of a cry ; with a glad flutter of 
the hands, instead of an angry kick of the feet. Let the mother 
note this. 

WASHING AND DRESSING 

should be performed at least night and morning. Wash the 
body well, and the parts liable to be soiled, after each evacu¬ 
ation. All the folds of the skin, neck, arms, armpits, and groins 
should be powdered well after each washing, and should not by 
any means be omitted. It would be a safe plan to arrange that 
the room should be at seventy degrees Fahrenheit at each dress¬ 
ing, and if this is done in the centre of the room, there is less 
danger from draughts of air. But sometimes from neglect of 
powdering there are ugly 

EXCORIATIONS. 

Wash these at least three times a day with two grains of sulphate 
of zinc dissolved in one ounce of rain or rose water, then dust 
with the following powder: Half a dram of oxide of zinc, one 
dram of powdered orris-root, and five drams of powdered starch, 
counting a large teaspoonful of each a dram; repeat this, 
dusting well after each use of the wash. If an ointment is 
preferred on any account, take three drams of spermaceti oint¬ 
ment, and one dram of carbonate of zinc ointment. In many 
cases any common pain-killer ointment will answer every pur¬ 
pose ; spread this on lint, or very soft cloth or linen, and lay it 
on the parts ; the cure will be facilitated by giving a tepid bath 
two or three times a week. 


CLEANLINESS 


needs no commendation, nor to be urged on any intelligent 
mother. But it will save a great deal of trouble if the mother 
will teach the child to hold out from urinating and defecations. 
This can be done, and the little one will soon learn to give notice, 


550 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


and even to submit to some uneasiness until tlie mother pays 
attention to it; but of course not an instant should be lost when 
the notice is given, and the mother should make it her study to 
show her approbation of such notice; make of it a pleasurable 
thing, both to herself and the baby ; but if a scowl is given, or a 
hasty act is performed, such as a jerk, or a harsh or angry word 
is uttered, making it apparent to the infant that it is an un¬ 
welcome thing to give such notice, it will put it off as long as it 
can, with all the attendant mischiefs. 

A soiled diaper should not be allowed to remain one instant 
day or night; and for fear there may be soiling and not noticed, 
there should be a frequent examination every day; but as soon 
as possible, and in every way * possible, teach the child to wait 
until proper preparation is made for stooling. 

t 

EXERCISE 

for the first month is not necessary, beyond the fatigue of dress¬ 
ing and bathing and nursing, with being carried across the 
floor a few minutes at a time, several times every day. The 
instinct of exercise is amazing. The author’s youngest child, now 
a full-grown young lady, in perfect health, when placed in the 
arms the day after birth, would give a kind of push, as if to indi¬ 
cate a moving on. 

After the first month, the child should be out of doors in the 
open air every dry day, especially every sunshiny day. If in 
the summer-time, when it is not cool enough for fires in the 
house, an hour in the forenoon, about eleven o’clock, and half an 
hour or more about four o’clock, not late enough for the damp 
of the evening, nor too early for the chills of the morning, while 
the middle of the day might be too hot. 

In the lato fall, and towards May, the middle of the day is best 
from eleven until two, say an hour or an hour and a half. 

For the first month or two of this out-door airing, the child 
should be held pretty much in a horizontal position, so as not to 
put a strain, upon the spine, for it might get an inclination which 
would last for life, to embitter it. The nurse should walk 
slowly, evenly; no jerking, jumping, running, jolting, or twisting 
round, for all such motions shock the child, and may cause per¬ 
manent displacements. At the same time the nurse should 


CHILD-BEARING. 


551 


never stand still, especially at the corner of a street or house, or 
in a draught of air, nor at an open door or window, or in the 
hall or passage. 

If in cool or cold weather, especially when the wind is blow¬ 
ing, the face should be protected by a thin veil, but in such a 
way as not to interfere with the breathing of the child. 

In the third month the infant indicates a desire to sit up; this 
should be gratified, but not over a few minutes at a time ; three 
or four times a day at first, then a little longer every week; by 
degrees they can go out as early as ten o’clock in the morning, 
and remain out as long as two hours before sundown. Until 
a child is five years old, it should be required to be in the house, 
at the very least, an hour before sundown, winter and summer, 
even in the clearest weather; neglect of this has given fatal 
croups to multitudes, because there is always a heaviness and 
dampness, and more or less of a rawness in the sundown air, 
which, with the natural diminution of vitality and vigor, after a 
whole day’s playing, very particularly exposes a child to the 
pernicious influences of cold. 

Little carriages in cities for children are not advisable, as they 
are liable to jolts and jars, especially at the crossings; if not 
allowed to go over these, if confined to going round the block, 
they are to that extent admissible. 

All tossing and swinging by the limbs should be regarded as a 
crime. 

When carried in the arms, the child should be changed from 
arm to arm, every five or ten minutes, until two months old, so as 
to compel change of position frequently ; it is of great importance, 
as it prevents obstruction of the circulation for any length of 
time. A child’s leg or arm may get a permanent bend by being 
carried on one arm too long, or in any one position. 

Not one hireling in a thousand is worthy of being trusted with 
a child out of its mother’s sight for an hour out of the twenty- 
four, especially if out of the house. The more a mother can keep 
her child under her own eye the better and safer for both child 
and mother; and as so few nurses can be trusted, none ought to 
be wholly trusted; and that nurse ought to be dismissed on the 
instant who puts anything to a child’s lips, solid or liquid, except 
by the direction of the parent at the time, for they will get into 
the way of giving things to‘keep the child quiet, in too many 


552 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


cases; if mothers do it sometimes, and thousands of them are 
tempted to do it every day, much more will an unprincipled 
hireling do it when out of sight. 

It is a cruelty and a shame for any mother to keep a child in 
any one position longer than its own instinct leads it to do so. 
Hence, to make a child sit still for five minutes at a time is per¬ 
nicious, or to lie down for five minutes at a time, unless it is 
asleep, or unless it chooses to do so, is a great wrong; lienee, 
keeping them in cribs and cradles and tubs by the hour is an 
absurdity. The best plan ever devised for giving a child its first 
lessons in getting along in the world by its own exertions, is to 
put it in the middle of the floor, and let it take care of itself; 
let it- learn to crawl, roll over, sit up, stand up, walk about of it¬ 
self. This is the best possible method of preventing bow-legs, 
broken arms, and the multitude of other evils which befall little 
ones, in consequence of being watched too much at one time, 
and too little at another. 

Iso one under fifteen years of age ought to be made the care¬ 
taker or watcher of an infant under two years, nor should the 
mother allow her child, under the first year, to lay on a bed, or 
floor or cradle, for an hour at a time, unless it is in a perfectly 
good humor. Little ones like change, and the mother ought to 
go to it the moment she perceives impatience, and play with it 
for a few minutes to divert it, to encourage it, to keep it com¬ 
pany, to set it going again. We ourselves, grown up as we are, 
soon get tired of being alone. And to allow a child to worry 
and fret by the hour by itself lays the foundation for a sour, 
cross, ugly temper, to leave its baneful and wide-spreading influ¬ 
ence in all after life. 

All baby-jumpers ever invented are a bother and a pest, unnat¬ 
ural and absurd, and have ill and dangerous effects in various di¬ 
rections. There is no baby-jumper equal to a parent’s arms, with 
a good-sized carpeted room, for a change of operations to its 
own forms of jumping. 

In learning children to walk, it is better to leave them to them¬ 
selves pretty much; first let them stand at a chair, next to go to 
a neighboring chair ; parents often induce dislocation by holding 
the child’s arms high above its head, in the efforts to steady it in 
walking. 


CHILD-BEARING. 


553 


&LEEP. 


Proper sleeping habits for infants are of incalculable impor¬ 
tance both to mother and child. With two or three repetitions, 
anything may become a habit to an infant. If it wakes up in 
the night, and is carried about the room for a few minutes a 
single time, it may wake up the next night at the same time. If 
it does wake up it is certain to want to be carried about again, 
and so on. Ilence, there are children who will not go to sleep 
until they are rocked in the cradle, or are carried about the floor; 
or have their mothers sit beside them until they fall asleep, and 
the mother then steals away in the softest manner possible for fear 
of waking them. Others from mere habit wake up in the night 
to be nursed, do it regularly, infallibly, until they are w r eaned; 
all this is wrong, it is the result of mere vicious habits, formed 
because mothers have no firmness. It is best, then, to begin from 
the first day the child is born, from its very first sleep, thus: 
At its birth it is handed to the nurse, who lays it a short dis¬ 
tance from the mother, on its right side, seeing that there arc no 
obstructions in the mouth or nostrils to free breathing; it is next 
covered over, and allowed rest and quiet from one to four or five 
hours; it is then rubbed all over with some mild oil to soften a 
thin covering on the skin, which is washed off with warm w T ater, 
say ninety degrees, more or less, soap and a soft sponge, special 
care being taken to get it from the eyelids, very gently, and all 
the creases and doublings or folds of skin, armpits, groins, and 
other places; wipe dry with a soft cloth, dress the child, and 
give it a teaspoonful of warm or cold water, put a little sugar on 
the nipple, place its little lips against it, and it will soon make its 
first meal; lay it down in a crib or cradle, cover it up warm, and 
let it take its first natural sleep ; when it wakes up give it its 
second dinner, then lay it in the crib again. Let this go on fora 
week or two, never allowing it to go to sleep on its mother’s arm 
or in its mother’s bed. For the first month an infant sleeps two- 
thirds of its time ; for the first week three-fourths of its time, 
but generally it sleeps less and less, and by the end of the sec¬ 
ond year, as it enters its* third, it averages, if in health, about 
twelve hours’ sleep in the twenty-four. Ilence it is seen that in¬ 
fants sleep less and less from the first day ; the plan is to let them 


554 : 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


sleep all they can, the more the hotter; never wake an infant up 
for any cause short of the house being on tire ; if ever it has to 
be done, let it be in the gentlest manner possible, and not sud¬ 
denly ; the want of such care has brought convulsions and hope¬ 
less idiocy on many a babe. Even grown people, when waked 
suddenly from a sound sleep, seem at first scarcely to have their 
senses. A young wife waked her husband one night, saying 
the house was on fire. She further told him that there was a 
hogshead of water in the yard, under the spout; that he must 
get some of it very quickly; lie found the backyard, found the 
hogshead of water, put his shoulder to it, turned it all afloat, 
came back to his wfife and said there was no fire in the backyard 

ir 

that lie could see. This shows how the brain is affected by sudden 
waking up; hence as to infants and children, it should be specially 
avoided. 

Healthy infants, who have healthy mothers, want to be nursed 
as soon as they wake up, which is about every two hours ; this 
may be done for the first seven days; then they do not sleep as 
long, the intervals are greater; so on the seventh day, when the 
child wakes up after its first nursing, it may be earlier than the 
day before, when, instead of giving it the breast as soon as it 
wakes up, make it wait; better to do it pleasantly by amusing it 
until three hours have passed since it was last fed ; in this way 
the feeding will be regular; let it feed as much as it wants ; thus 
will be brought about two important things by Nature’s own 
operation: decreasing sleep, which is needed; increasing 
amount of food, which is needed, the decreasing and the increas¬ 
ing being regulated by the instincts. 

Begin the very first night to nurse the child at ten o’clock, and 
as often as it wakes during the night, always laying it back in 
its crib ; but at the end of a week, after giving the breast as 
long as it will take it at ten o’clock, make it wait until two 
o’clock next morning for its next feeding, and at the end of each 
week, half an hour longer, until the breast is given at five or six 
o’clock, thus allowing the mother to sleep full seven hours undis¬ 
turbed out of every twenty-four ; and then with half an hour’s 
nap in the forenoon, not later than twelve, she will have all the 
sleep a nursing mother wants. What a heaven this would be to 
tens of thousands of nursing mothers this day ; the very thought 
of the chance of sleeping one whole night undisturbed, would be 


CHILD-BEARING. 


555 


like the promise of an elysium. There are tens of thousands of 
mothers who scarcely sleep one single night through undisturbed 
during the whole course of nursing; one of the saddest of all 
possible announcements, because it is an avoidable necessity, 
and if avoidable would add incalculably to the health of both 
mothers and children; would add to the lives and happiness of 
both, for all men can better do with less food than Nature re¬ 
quires, than less sleep. The sounder the sleep, the better for 
mother and child; when the two are in the same bed, the slight¬ 
est motion of the one wakes up the other, and to be waked up 
out of sleep in the night-time is an injury and an insufferable 
annoyance. To allow a child to sleep on its mother’s arm, to 
tug at her breast by the half hour, until it goes to ‘Sleep, is a 
folly that is scarcely to be spoken of with patience. 

There is not the shadow of a doubt that every mother could 
train her infant in the way marked out, only if she makes up her 
mind to do it; if. she fails to do this by saying “ I can’t,” by 
being unwilling to let the child cry, just let her think of this 
one thing: suppose you were, to die, what then? Certainly it 
would cry, and would have to cry, until the whole habit could be 
changed. 

At two years of age the child should be made to go to- bed at 
eight o’clock, winter and summer, and be allowed to sleep as long 
as it wants to sleep; but if this interferes with the breakfast- 
hour, so that the child cannot be washed and dressed by breakfast¬ 
time, then require an earlier and an earlier retiring, so that it 
shall get all its sleep out in time to be dressed for breakfast; but 
until six or eight vears of age. and even longer in some cases, a 
nap of an hour should be taken in the middle of the forenoon, so 
as to be over by twelve o’clock. By no means allow a child over 
two years of age to sleep in the afternoon, if it .is well, for this 
protracts the time for sleeping at night; it will soon not want 
to go to bed, will make it later and later every night, until, 
before the parent knows it, the child does not want to go to bed, 
in fact seems never ready to go to bed, and as a necessary result, 
never ready to get up ; never ready for breakfast; breakfast has 
to be u saved,” to the annoyance and discomfort of the servants, 
to say nothing of the injustice done to them in their derang¬ 
ing their work, putting it back, and increasing the amount, and 


556 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


all this for the bad habits of a child, a habit which is positively 
injurious to its health and well-being. 

It is most earnestly requested that all young mothers espe¬ 
cially look at this tiling of children’s sleep in all its bearings, and 
act wisely and conscientiously. 

Recapitulation. 

For the first five or six days immediately after confinement it is 
of incalculable importance to both mother and infant to have 
bodily rest and mental repose. Everything practicable should be 
done to give the mother peace of mind; remove everything 
which could either annoy or disturb; exclude all disagreeable 
intelligence; relieve her as much as possible from every domes¬ 
tic responsibility, propose nothing which requires deliberation; 
nothing which demands comparison, and important decision ; the 
mind should be kept as perfectly at ease as possible, and in an 
encouraged, hopeful mood, all aiding greatly towards promoting 
sleep, and giving power to recuperate. 

For similar reasons, all visitors should be absolutely excluded, 
except husband and nurse and physician, for at least four or five 
days; if any one should be allowed admission, it is the mother 
of the invalid, and not even her, unless she is of a calm tempera¬ 
ment, and can be trusted for her prudence, consideration, and 
cheerful lovingness of disposition. After the first week, one or 
two at furthest may be admitted each day, and in a few days, 
more; a gradual increase in numbers is admissible. But as'to 
the 

NEW-COMER, 

more stringent rules should be observed. A new-born baby re¬ 
quires from the very first instant three things, 

WARMTH, FOOD, SLEEP. 

Keep it warm in a soft, fine blanket or flannel cloth for the first 
five or six hours, then, after feeding it, let it sleep ; when it wakes 
up, feed it again, if not sooner than two hours ; if it wakes up 
before the two hours, let it wait for dinner, like a grown person ; 
it will soon get used to it, and be all the better for it; then lay it 


THE APPETITES. 


557 


down to go to sleep again ; this secures two of the most important 
tilings in infantile life, regularity of eating, and abundant, suffi¬ 
cient sleep ; for only give the child a fair chance, and Nature will 
regulate that. But just here comes in a perfect nuisance: the 
baby has been put to sleep, some aunt or uncle or other privileged 
person calls, has but a moment to stay, but wants to see the baby ; 
admission is given, or the child is taken into another room; in 
either case its 

NAP IS BROKEN, 

it may not be able to go to sleep again ; and failing of that, feels 
badly, frets, is put to the breast an hour before its time, and 
regularity in sleeping and eating is at once broken into. There 
is but one rational, humane plan: Never wake up a sleeping infant 
for anybody or anything ; if a neighbor happens to come in when 
its nap is out, when it has waked up of its own accord, then it 
may be shown to a visitor for two or three minutes, no longer, for 
the first week ; any woman who does not enforce this rule, con¬ 
sidering its far-reaching consequences, does not really love her 
child. The husband who does not help his wife to enforce these 
reasonable observances, fails of a most important duty to himself, 
his wife, his child, and to society in general. If mother and child 
can be helped to the fullest quietude, to all the sleep they can get, 
to exemption from all excitement and solicitude and care, both 
will grow stronger and healthier and heartier every day, with a 
constantly accumulating force of vitality, circulation, and of re¬ 
sistance to all ordinary diseases. Nor is this all: the mother 
should not be put to the trouble of deciding whether this visitor, 
or that, or the other, should be admitted; let it be sufficient for the 
servant to meet all callers at the door with the announcement that 
the doctor has given orders that no visitors should be admitted 
for the present on any account; this is the easiest, best, and most 
direct method of securing the important ends desired. 




THE APPETITES 

are three in number they are the passions, the propensities of 
our nature, and were intended to be gratified, to be satisfied. As 




558 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


they are equally essential to the life of man and the perpetuation 
of the race, it lias been wisely arranged that their gratification is 
attended with satisfaction and pleasure. They are called pas¬ 
sions, because all the energies of a man’s nature are summoned 
to procure the means of their indulgence. The term propensity 
is used in reference to them in consequence of nature always 
seeking or calling for their gratification. The word appetite 
means a seeking for, as the bird is always in search of food. If 
either of these three propensities were to die out, the race would 
perish ; but Revelation teaches that it was the end and aim of 
the creation of the material universe to perpetuate the human 
species for the purpose of peopling heaven with an innumerable 
company of the redeemed from all nations and kindred of the 
earth; and the more certainly to accomplish this great design, 
both eating and drinking and reproduction are made a duty and 
a pleasure ; a duty to the Maker, a pleasure to the man. If 
these pleasures are too freely indulged in, disease comes on, prem¬ 
ature decay and death. But here the Scripture comes in for 
our guide, and counsels us to be temperate in these indulgences, 
and warns us against being gluttonous and wine-bibbers,, as being 
vices which bring their own punishment here, and “ condemna¬ 
tion ” hereafter. Here comes in the law of rational indulgence. 
We should not eat or drink more than we want, more than we 
need, more than is good for us; if we do, sickness and suffering 
are sure to follow. ✓ 

Some require more drink than others ; some require more 
food than others; one cannot be a law to another, each 

man must be a law to himself. Ilis reason must be brought 

into requisition to enable him to decide as to the extent 

of his indulgence. Each man for himself is practically in¬ 

terested in the question, IIow much must I eat? how much 
must I drink ? These inquiries are constantly made of the phy¬ 
sician, but it is utterly impossible to make a rule which would 
meet all cases; for some work harder than others, and the more 
work, the more food ; the nearest we can get to it is, we must 
eat and drink until we are satisfied, until the sense of hunger 
and thirst are appeased; if these are present to the extent of 
making themselves felt, giving rise to the desire to eat and drink, 
then we have not had enough and ought to have more. These 
statements have been made to give an idea of the analogies of 

O <T3 


THE APPETITES. 


559 


tilings, in order to tlirow light upon that most important, per¬ 
sonal, practical question which so nearly concerns the happiness 
and well-being of every married man, and which is so often pro¬ 
posed to the physician, and would be proposed millions of times 
oftener, did not certain feelings of delicacy prevent. Deficien¬ 
cies and excesses in reproductive indulgences are productive of 
quite as much sin and sorrow and suffering as excesses and defi¬ 
ciencies in eating and drinking. Many starve to death because 
they have not enough to eat, and cannot get it; millions more 
die prematurely because they gluttonize. In a sense man is 
always ready for the performance of the reproductive function 
if in vigorous health; not one in a million is otherwise, and 
when such a one is found, it is because he is deficient. Some 
women, not a few, have no such desires; on the contrary,there is 
an abiding aversion, approaching to disgust; multitudes more 
have them only for a short time after each catamenial flow, when 
the system is prepared for impregnation, for the making of a 
new being, as if in obedience to the command to “ multiply and 
replenish,” from a sense of duty. At the same time it is her 
duty to acquiesce whenever indulgence is desired ; and as indul¬ 
gence involves no drain on her system, and when no inclination 
is present she can be passive, refusal becomes a crime, because 
one of two things will always happen, will inevitably happen; 
nothing but a miracle can prevent their happening in any one case: 
the man will go elsewhere, or his health, moral and physical, will 
suffer, and he cannot prevent either, any more than he could 
take wings and fly beyond the ocean. 

It would be altogether useless to introduce this subject, unless 
it was treated in a manner so plain and so specific, as to come 
before the reader’s mind with sufficient clearness and definite¬ 
ness as to make it usefully practical; and yet it is of such a 
character that it is desirable, it is more agreeable, to express 
the ideas in an indirect manner or in roundabout phrase, for 
neither reader nor writer can be divested of the feeling, that 
there is a certain degree of privacy connected with it which calls 
for expressions which leave something to the imagination to do, in 
order to carry out the full idea. It would be otherwise, if what is 
written could meet the eyes only of those who are most directly 
concerned, those who are living in lawful wedlock. 

This subject is treated more fully in the author’s book on 


5G0 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


sleep, but tills volume would not fill a family want, unless some 
suggestions were made in reference to the matters in band. 

If a man is honorably faithful to bis wife, and tbe reproduc¬ 
tive functions are not performed to tbe extent of appeasing tbe 
appetite as to bim, whether it is tbe result of her unwillingness, 
or bis not being disposed to annoy; when, from any cause, real 
or imagined, it is so, be may maintain bis integrity, be may hon¬ 
orably, from a high sense of principle and duty, and in consider¬ 
ation for bis family, refuse outside gratifications, but Nature will 
not be appeased for all that, any more than a hungry man can 
be satisfied without food; and this result follows: Nature is, in a 
sense, always manufacturing tbe reproductive substance, as she 
is always manufacturing bile or urine, and when tbe bladder is 
full it must be emptied; if not, inflammation takes place, and 
death follows within a week; if there is no discharge voluntar¬ 
ily, by the will, Nature sends dreams, and there is a spontaneous 
emptying and involuntary evacuation, and tbe bed is soiled, as in 
children. When tbe reproductive fluid is not disposed of in tbe 
way Nature designed when marriage was instituted, it accumu¬ 
lates in the vessels made to receive it, over-distension follows, 
dreams are the result, and they evacuate ; tbe name given 
to describe this is nocturnal emissions, and when this thing is 
once set up, once becomes a habit of tbe system, it becomes as 
perfectly uncontrollable as that of nocturnal urination in a child ; 
it is a thing which takes place beyond any possible control, and 
can’t be helped in any other way than by not going to sleep. 
There are medicines which will arrest this manufacture, but they 
endanger the destruction of the function, which would be just as 
much a crime as to cut off an arm or to destroy the sight. But 
these occurrences do not take place with impunity : they grow, 
increase in frequency, bringing on such debilities of body as 
sometimes destroy life, and so affecting the mind as sometimes 
to destroy it, making it idiotic; not always inducing such sad 
results, not often inducing them, but the tendencies are in that 
direction; the constitution is always injured and the moral char¬ 
acter always impaired. Hence, it clearly follows, that any 
woman, who for a mere whim, in sheer ugliness, is willing to 
risk results like these, is unworthy of the sacred name of wife, 
and ought to be “ cast out,” because her life is a living lie and 


THE APPETITES. 


561 


an habitual perjury, an accumulative crime, becoming more 
aggravated every dav. 

It is within a few years that ignorant, knavish, and unclean 
men and women were going through the country delivering in¬ 
decent harangues, dignified by the name of “ Lectures,” with the 
announcement that they were only for ladies, the burden of them 

being that they were “ made a convenience of,” and that this was 

• • » • 

the cause, the great cause of their impaired health ; that unless 
remedied, permanent disease and premature death would be an 
inevitable result. The more weak-minded were carried away 
with the shallow reasoning, with the result that in many cases 
discords were sown in families Which had lived in harmony and 
love for five and ten and twenty years ; no one seeming to have 
known the important fact that maiden women, on an average,. 
. die several years sooner than the married, all the asserted indigni¬ 
ties and outrages, and hardships and perils of child-bearing to 
' the contrary notwithstanding. But in this, as in all other cases, 
throughout the moral universe, wrong-doing, perverseness, always 
brings its own punishment. Comparatively few men hold fast 
their integrity; their reasoning is they have a right, if this right 
is refused from a mere whim or caprice, they will seek it else¬ 
where, and when once the ice is broken in this direction, there is 
such a fascination in variety, a fascination first, then an uncon¬ 
querable passion, that the path is never retraced this side the 
grave;- the moral sense is perverted and the course is downwards 
forever. Thousands and tens of thousands of husbands are thus 
made vicious every year; thousands of divorces are sought for 
and tens of thousands' of others would be, were it not for the dis¬ 
credit of it-;, for, however rightly a divorce may be obtained .in 
some cases, there is, in the minds of all decent people, a stain left 
on both, carrying with it the feeling of contempt and disgust, 
and one which is ineradicable, however unjust that may be in 
some cases; the very fact of a divorce leaves an .impression of 
degradation, for there is an instinctive feeling that both are to 
blame; that both had descended to a cat-and-dog life, and had 
lived in it for a long time before it came to the crisis of. a sepa¬ 
ration. When the house is once left for an abandoned purpose, 
that house never becomes a home again ; the fireside -feeling 
never again enters that man’s heart—the oneness, the unity, is 
gone; • 


86 


562 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


THE LAST LINK IS BROKEN 

and lie feels himself, ever after, an outsider. 

These things have come to the author’s knowledge in the course 
of many years’ practice. The cases have been so numerous, the 
“ contidences ” have been so frequently made, that the broad facts 
cannot be disputed. Only a physician in a large city can* come 
to the full knowledge of how these things work; and he judges 
not from the city merely: from all parts of the country also 
is he consulted, under the impression that his experience is more' 
extensive and his counsel more valuable than under other cir¬ 
cumstances. Hence it is the city physician‘only, who is an ade¬ 
quate judge of the propriety, the utility, and the wisdom of dis¬ 
cussing such subjects in book form. But as many do wrong things 
unwittingly, and would promptly and gladly correct the wrong¬ 
doing the instant it is made palpable to them, the hope is that 
multitudes of married women, especially young wives, may 
escape the rock upon which the domestic bark has been so often 
dashed, by having had presented to their minds a clear idea of 
how these things work in practical, actual life, and of the value 
of one short lesson. Interpose no obstacle unless there is a clear 
necessity for it. If a sense of duty and love does not impel 
such a course, let that of cold policy avail, for it-will certainly 
avert a world of 

DOMESTIC WOES. 

A more delicate subject is still to be discussed, it is that of fre¬ 
quency; and although no one can be a guide for another,-any 
more than the quantity of food, yet it is capable of a satisfactory 
and accurate solution in the light of nature and instinct;. in this, 
reason is no guide at all—as proof, a book has been Written by one 
who has written much, teaching the doctrine of an annual consum¬ 
mation, which is so perfectly absurd, in fact, idiotic, that it is only 
named to show the truth of the statement just made, that human 
reason is not a safe guide in this respect. As the idea has never 
been presented in writing, as far as the author knows, and as with 
the advancing intelligence and inquisitiveness of the race, such 
things will sooner or later be inquired into while they are yet 
new, the reader is requested to bring his own rationality into re¬ 
quisition, and examine and decide every statement made on this 
abstruse and delicate point. 


THE APPETITES. 


563 


If a man does not get enough food for the wants of the sys¬ 
tem, he is made sensible of it by a certain feeling in the stomach, 
his attention is directed to the. fact that he has a stomach; 
so in this other appetite, if not satisfied up to Nature’s want and 
need, there is a constant reminder of this want, that there is a 
reproductive nature; when the propensity is fully fed, the mind 
goes oft to something else. If a man is very hungry his atten¬ 
tion is acutely and quickly attracted to everything eatable on 
the street; were he not hungry he would pass wagon-loads with¬ 
out even the knowledge of their existence. A countryman will 
walk the whole length of Broadway and never notice a book of 
all the thousands which are so temptingly displayed, as he passes 
Appleton’s and Carter’s and Randolph’s, because his tastes, his 
feelings are not in that direction ; but he would, notice a 

BIG PUMPKIN 

or a good horse collar or a magnificent saddle, because these 
things are in his line, and lie wants them, needs them, has not 
enough of them at home, his desires are not satisfied in that di¬ 
rection, hence he is fully alive to everything of the sort. The 
man who has not had the desires of his nature met, is committing # 
adultery in his heart at the meeting of every fair form, and 
he cannot help its being said of him, he “looketli on a woman to 
lust after her; ” of all such, of all unmarried men who are con¬ 
tinent, it is most literally true, the imaginations of the thoughts of 
their hearts are evil, only evil, and that continually. A man could 
not be a man, were it otherwise, and it is utterly useless to blink 
the question. Hence he is constantly committing sin on the pub¬ 
lic streets; and in retiracy, unclean thoughts will run rampant, • 
both in his day dreams as well as those of the night, and in time 
his mind becomes impure, his.thoughts impure, and the associa¬ 
tion of his ideas will become impure to an extent, that sights and 
even sounds will set up trains of thought which father imagina¬ 
tions very often little less than bestial. Hence it is that marriage 
is a great, purifier of the thoughts and intents of the heart, as all 
conscientious persons well know who have passed from the single 
to the married state. ' Therefore it clearly .follows that all these 
sins, all these demoralizations, are justly laid at the door of the 
unwilling wife. The whole subject merits the deliberate and 




564 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


* * • 
serious and mature consideration of' every intelligent, conscien¬ 
tious, and pure-minded woman. The law allows divorce on the 
ascertainment of such malformation as clearly makes reproduc- 
, tion impossible, because it is against Nature ; moral malformation 
is in effect the same. Indifference is a moral deformity, let alone 
aversion to the act. 

Besides all this, a woman of the class under consideration has 
married for a home, or for other unworthy reason, and not for 
love. She has perpetrated a deliberate fraud on her husband 
and on society, and has none of the rights of a wife ; nor can she 
justly claim her husband’s respect or sympathies. Then there is 
• a consideration which sinks her into deeper depths. She allows 
a man to spend his waking existence at his shop, his office, his 
store, or his manufactory, in labor and in toil, to support his 
household respectably, in comfort and abundance, to supply the 
means for dress, and for all the other calls incident to social life; 
while in return there is not accorded -that consideration, and the 
exercise of those claims which of right belong to him; or if ac¬ 
corded’ it is grudgingly, with the interposition of such obstacles, 
and the exhibition of such indifference, such an unwillingness, 
and with such an ungracious manner, that the mind can come to 
no other conclusion than that there exists an intensity of selfish¬ 
ness, which degrades any human being who possesses it to the 
level of the - meanest of the race. Of course there can be no love 
there. 

There are other circumstances which show that the all-pervad¬ 
ing appetite has not been appeased. Not only the debilitating 
occurrences already alluded to : the “ looking .after ” others lust¬ 
fully, and the evil, impure imaginations before spoken of; 
but in the early morning, on waking, there is a uniform rigidity 
of the reproductive parts, which shows the yearning of the instinct 
for its natural feeding, as a hungry man thinks of richly spread 
tables, just*as -the.waking dream of the morning is breaking up 
the sleep of the night. 

There is still another and a fifth indication that Nature has not 
had her satisfaction. When there is good bodily health, and the 
functions are vigorous and* perfect, accompanied with honorable 
continence, there is always, in the earliest part of married life, an 
instantaneous completion of the consummation even before an 
accomplished introduction. A city physician is constantly con- 


THE APPETITES. 


505 


suited by letter or in person in reference to this,' and always with 
considerable mental perturbation. There is, in the first place, an 
apprehensive impression of very serious defects of organization, 
with a very great annoyance at the consideration of reaching the 
acme alone; no time having been afforded, in the other direc¬ 
tion, to come up., to the point of enjoyment; causing, and justly 
too, very considerable dissatisfaction, felt, but not expressed ; for 
there is an innate delicacy of sentiment in every true woman in 
these regards, which prevents expression of feeling. Hence, 
most of them cover it up, and patiently abide the cure of wdiat 
is so undesirable, until time and practice bring about the rectifi¬ 
cation. 

These considerations fully answer the important question 
as to the measure of frequency, and indicate a rule of conduct 
which can be clearly and satisfactorily applied to all, of whatever 
age, temperament, habit, or constitution. It is an unerring and 
perfectly safe principle of application in all possible cases, and 
to which, in healthy persons, there are no exceptions. To recapit¬ 
ulate : Marital consummations are to be accomplished to the ex¬ 
tent— 

First, of preventing the “ looking on a woman to lust after 
her.” ’ • . • 

Second, of preventing lascivious dreams. 

Third, of preventing the early morning rigidities. 

Fourth, of preventing the tendency of the mind to run off into 
evil and impure imaginings on the instant the attention is di¬ 
rected by sight or sound to anything which can bring to it 
thoughts on the great, controlling, prevalent subject. 

Fifth, of preventing instantaneous consummation, and, 

Sixth, of preventing great debility or any discomfort following 
the act. 

The frequency should be diminished until no discomfort what¬ 
ever is experienced, even transient; just as in a dyspeptic con¬ 
dition of the stomach, a man should eat less and less each time, 
until no discomfort whatever is induced, and that is the proper 
measure for him; if that limited amount is continued for awhile, 
the stomach becomes stronger, and more can be indulged in, and 
more and more, until the person can eat as much as others with¬ 
out any inconvenience. ’ But if in increasing the amount of food 
he does it too fast, and discomfort begins to show itself, he must 


566 


nALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


at once diminish the amount to a satisfactory quantity. This is 
precisely the line of conduct to be pursued as to the subject under 
discussion. 

If hebdominal, or even annual consummations are followed 
by debilities,, or exhaustions, or other indications of a strain on 
nature, then they are to be demitted, howsoever great the misfor¬ 
tune in any particular case; pitiful though it be, and command¬ 
ing the sincerest sympathies of all generous minds. As in a man 
losing his fortune undeservedly, it is a hard case, but it cannot 
be helped. 

Many a man has married to-day, and to-morrow lias shot him¬ 
self through the head or hung himself on a nail behind the door. 
Thousands of marriage bells have been rung, and the next day 
the young bride has retreated to her mother’s bosom and taken, 
refuge there for the remainder of a blighted life. The author 
knew a man of great name, a statesman and a warrior of renown. 
At the height of his power and his fame, he married an accom¬ 
plished woman, of high social position, educated, cultivated, re¬ 
fined, of commanding personal attractions, and of queenly bear¬ 
ing. The next morning he was missing. The executive man¬ 
sion was closed, no sight nor sound, of living thing was there, it 
was literally a 

“ BANQUET HALL DESERTED.” 

The lady had returned to her father’s house, and the gentle¬ 
man became by degrees more and more forgotten ; at length, 
however, it was ascertained that he had made a home with 
savage tribes, not returning to civilized life for many years after¬ 
wards. An explanation was never vouchsafed, “ no man can 
say, Doctor, that I ever said a word against her,” and that was 
all that either of them would allow the great world outside to 
know; both have long since mouldered into dust. 

At other times, and such things come only to the knowledge 
of physicians, the foundation is laid on the wedding nudit for 
life-long antipathies, estrangements, and disgusts, which make 
of the whole of married life .thereafter a purgatory instead of 
a paradise, without any positive crime, or wrong, or fault on either 
side sometimes ; but the result, in many cases, of the want of a 
little consideration, a little intelligence, a little common sense; 
there was merely a little misapprehension ; and if one such 


THE APPETITES. 


567 


blighting and blasting and mildew shall be prevented by what 
is here written, it will be some compensation for having spent so 
much time in the consideration of a subject which bristles with 
aversions. Youth is impulsive, hasty, passionate, and has so 
much inconsideration, that it is rather complimentary to human 
nature that 'greater and graver evils are not more frequently 
fallen into, than there are; especially when it is taken into con¬ 
sideration how ignorant the young are in these matters, at least 
those who have been brought up virtuously. 

The young husband has often murdered himself outright 
from a sheer misapprehension; the young wife runs home to her 
mother, or worries herself into an early grave, or into a place 
far more terrible, a mad-house, from hasty and groundless im¬ 
pressions. It is purposed here to give some practical suggestions 
for the avoidance of such calamities in a great many cases ; the 
starting point for the lesson is the consideration that the animal 
pervades the man, the angelic the virgin, not literally true, but 
in a sense it is true ; in effect it is true. At the marriage altar and 
in the bridal bedchamber, indulgence takes possession of the 
young man’s whole nature ; it is uppermost in every thought and 
feeling ; there is no idea with which it is not associated. With 
the girl it is different, she wonders, she imagines, she covers her 
face, she ' shrinks away, would willingly sink through the floor, 
and a million of times she sincerely wishes there was a trap-door 
in it for escape from the ordeal, which otherwise has to be 
passed; and as this book is designed for parental use, the sugges¬ 
tion is here made, that both father and mother, in their appropri¬ 
ate spheres, should make such suggestions as their own experien¬ 
ces have brought to them; such as might be serviceable on an occa¬ 
sion as important as it is new and overpowering. The young man 
should bear in mind that he is approaching a tender flower, which 
a breath may scorch, which a rude touch may break from its 
stem ; in an hour to be wilted and to die, metaphorically. For 
the first month of a first marriage, the husband should not feel 
himself to be any other than the betrothed ; this single consider¬ 
ation would prevent the blight of many a married life, and the 
parent reader cannot take too much pains to impress the idea 
upon the mind of the child. It is meant that the young wife 
should be treated as if she were still a girl, a young lady, in re¬ 
spect to her wishes being implicitly deferred to in every conceiv- 


5GS 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR . 


able tiling. Before marriage it was only necessary for the very 
slightest intimation to be given on her part of what might be 
most agreeable to her ;' it was never requisite to repeat that inti¬ 
mation ; it was never necessary to wait an instant; no demur 
was ever made; no objection interposed by any possibility, no 
undue urgency ever exhibited, except now and then for a stolen 
kiss, sweeter than the nectar of the skies; and then, what deli¬ 
cacy of deportment in all respects ; what knightly courtesy, what 
ready attentions, what respectful lifting of the hat at every meet¬ 
ing and .departure; what beseeching looks for the slightest 
favors desired! let these principles of conduct and action be 
carried out the first night, and the second, and for a month, ask¬ 
ing nothing, insisting on nothing; patiently, generously, heroi¬ 
cally waiting for intimation of will; gentle as in the handling of 
the tender infant, and deferential as the courtier at the recep¬ 
tion of his Queen. In this way an initiation will be made, an 
entrance effected into the new life which will give it one of the 
most attractive colorings, and will throw a halo around it, beau 1 
tiful to all beholders. 

No disappointed surprises; no impatient gesture, or sign, or 
look, should ever escape from either ; if never, better; but at 
least for one little month, that first month, that eventful month, 
let it be spent in the diligent practice of all these little amiabili¬ 
ties which so smooth enjoyable, social intercourse, which cost 
so little, which bear such a large fruitage for good. 

A different course brings about the results a while ago inti¬ 
mated. Impatience alarms ; roughness pains ; impetuosity an¬ 
gers; brutality disgusts. 

If the animal is seen to predominate; if it is shown to be the . 
ruling passion, the young wife instinctively despises, and it may 
take long years even to efface the impression. Surely these are 
considerations which should outweigh a Chimborazo or a Coto¬ 
paxi. 

But there- are circumstances within himself, which often lead 
the young husband to groundless imaginings, and being cher¬ 
ished, grow to enormous dimensions, causing, often, the over¬ 
shadowing of the intellect, or its total destruction and all this 
from a misapprehension engendered by reading a certain class of 
books, which are unfortunately too sure to find their way into 
• the hands of young men, by reason of their, to them, attractive 


TEE APPETITES. 


569 


titles; promising revelations on subjects which the young mind 
has a most intense desire to investigate, and upon which it ear¬ 
nestly seeks information; but the information vouchsafed is not 
the kind which is instructive in what is true and useful; the 
whole intent is to mislead first, then to alarm, and then to fleece. 
All these publications.open with expressions of a benevolent re¬ 
gard for the happiness and best interests of humanity, and of 
the young in particular. Next, with a show of learning, inves¬ 
tigation, and research, braced with quotations from the most emi¬ 
nent authors, the way is thus prepared for the most outrageous 
falsehoods, falsehoods which the young have no available means of 
detecting. All these things are of a private nature, and there is 
an instinctive delicacy in comparing ideas, even with the nearest 
friends; these things the writers of these books are too old in 
* sin and in the knowledge of the worst and weakest phases of hu¬ 
man nature, not to take advantage of; hence they feel -safe in 
their strongholds of falsehood and infamy. Their mode of pro¬ 
cedure is to appeal to physical appearances in part; that such and 
such a thing looks so and so, or is so and so ; the reader sees that 
this is the fact, and finding this to be a truth, his confidence is 
gained, but the next statement is a mere assertion, the most pal¬ 
pable falsehood, at least palpable to a professional mind ; but the 
victim receives it as true, and here lie is ensnared, led astray, 
and becomes an easy prey to imposture. As to the case in hand 1 
These books give the information that instantaneousness of con¬ 
summation is a sign of nervous debility, of absence of virile 
power, and that there is no manliness, no capability of perpetua¬ 
tion ; that unless it is remedied, the infirmity becomes permanent, 
and that such a condition is dreadful to contemplate ; this nat¬ 
urally excites the gravest apprehensions, and with assurances 
of certain and permanent rectification, the way is opened for 
charges measured by the ascertained ability of the victim to pay, 
ranging from fifty to a hundred or a thousand dollars. Reme¬ 
dies are given which are perfectly inert, but the information is 
vouchsafed, that it is better to run no risk, to impart to the sys¬ 
tem no shock, but to bring it gradually under the influence of 
the potent and costly drug, all of which requires time; mean¬ 
while, by practice and habit, the instantaneousness diminishes, as 
a matter of course; the keen edge of desire wears off; the 
diminution is appealed to as a fact, but the fiction is not seen by 




570 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


the blinded victim; he is so carried away with the seeming suc¬ 
cess of the treatment, that he sometimes not only pays the charges, 
but, if flush of money, adds gratuities of jewelry or other costly 
presents. 

The actual facts are, that this very instantaneousness is a 
demonstration of healthful vigor, that all is just as. Nature would 
have it, and the change comes, as in the appetite for eating, the 
more frequently food is taken, the less urgent are the demands 
of the stomach, but more healthful and far safer. These, and 
other false teachings, abound in books about “ Manhood,” “ Mar- 
riage,” “ Physiology,” and the like, intended for boys of four¬ 
teen and over, offered at a trifling cost, and embellished with 
cuts and engravings to excite curiosity and lead to the considera¬ 
tion of subjects connected with the reproductive functions, with 
the express purpose of misleading them in the same manner as 
just detailed. These youths are led on from one thing to another 
in these publications, until in the same way they are persuaded 
that something is the matter with them ; to a certain extent 
facts are appealed to ; the facts are palpable to the youth’s sight; 
he cannot help but believe them; and when he is told that such 
facts are proofs of an unnatural, a diseased condition, he receives 
this latter statement as gospel truth ; the mind is misled, fears 
are excited, and money is gladly parted with on the promise that 
everything will be certainly and permanently remedied. But these 
appearances, these feelings, these occurrences, are natural, just as 
much, so as in the case detailed above; but the youth has no 
means which he is willing to resort to to gain information ; he 
is unwilling to consult his parents, or any physician of his 
acquaintance, because there is an impression that a degree of 
disgrace is attached to it, and this he wishes to hide from the 
eyes of those whom he knows. If it were only a loss of money, 
it might well be passed over; but a young reader of the books 
named is often thrown into a state of excitement, dread, and 
remorse, which becomes terrible. City physicians of any name 
or note are constantly receiving letters from youth in the 
country, which clearly show that they are on the very verge of 
insanity ; and cases are on record showing that suicide has been 
committed as the shortest and easiest way of getting rid of the 
mental torments. - In fact, many of these letter writers do not 
hesitate to say they would rather be dead than remain in their 


THE APPETITES. 


571 

present condition; others say they would pay any amount of 
money possible in their* circumstances for relief, and in many 
cases it requires a great deal of time and trouble to explain to 
them and show them that nothing is the matter with them, but 
their condition is natural and healthful. Sometimes neither 
letters nor references to standard books nor personal expostula¬ 
tions avail to dispossess them of their absurd opinions. Under 
these circumstances, parents will readily see that it is their duty 
to keep such books out of the hands of their boys, by explaining 
to them their true character; and further, it would be a great 
point gained to exclude all newspapers from the family which 
advertise these books for sale, under whatever title they may 
appear. These books have a greater influence on the mind of 
youth, from the professions of humanity which their writers 
indulge in, and their reference to Scripture. 

Among the things harped on in these vile publications is, that 
a want of memory, a downcast look, an averted eye, not looking 
people in the face, are certain proofs of the habitual practice of 
such indulgences as induce nocturnals; as if to be brazen-faced, 
and to stare decent people out of countenance were proofs of 
purity and virtue. Being thus misled, a youth is prepared to 
pay any amount of money possible to him, on assurances of cure, 
which are glibly given; or, not having the means, he broods 
over these things from day to day, he. is abashed, he con¬ 
siders himself a criminal, he feels disgraced in his own eyes, and 
imagines that everybody who looks at him knows all about it ; 
hence, the impassioned appeals to city physicians for gratuitous 
.aid from direful impendings ; the letters many times blotted 
and blurred with the marks of tears, O how bitter! And all 
this without the slightest foundation in fact, because nocturnal 
emissions have no necessary connection with habits of self- 
indulgence, since they come on spontaneously, as naturally as 
hunger or thirst; they are really an indication of the healthful 
vigor of the parts; all have them up to marriage, unless there 
are natural defects; marriage is their only safe and healthful 
remedy; but after, marriage they will inevitably return to the 
healthy, under two conditions: separation, even for a week or 
two, in cases of the vigorous, or an inadequate home supply, a sup¬ 
ply which is not up to Nature’s rightful demand. But it suits 
the writers of the books in question,- that the whole subject 


572 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR: 


should be made to take this turn ; lienee, nocturnals are repre¬ 
sented as the ruinous effects of self-abuse, and are the sure pre¬ 
cursors of utter disqualification for honorable marriage. 

It is easy to see what a disturbing effect these representations 
have on the susceptible minds of youth, and how willingly they 
would spend every dollar they could spare, to relieve themselves 
of what they consider not only a most deplorable, but a most dis¬ 
graceful condition, second only to a venereal affection ; and this 
is precisely the ; state of mind intended to be induced; a readi¬ 
ness to part with any amount of money they could raise to be 
cured of a thing which is no disease, and not only so, is an in¬ 
disputable evidence of a healthy vigor of the parts, an overflow 
of vitality, having no natural connection with self-pollution, de¬ 
nominated “ Onanism.” This truth cannot be too distinctly 
placed before the mind of the reader and parents, with a view to 
their imparting the information to their boys when there is oc¬ 
casion for it. 

As lias been before stated, the fluid discharged in the noctur¬ 
nals, is, in a sense, all the time in formation, as urine is all the 
time in formation; not exactly so but practically so; and it is 
just as necessary for the seminal vessels, reservoirs, to be emp¬ 
tied as the bladder; the natural method is in the consummations 
of honorable marriage, and in its absence, if continence is ob¬ 
served, if promiscuous indulgence is not practised, Nature will 
find an outlet, for out it must come; and she does it through the 
instrumentality of lascivious dreams in the light sleep of the early 
morning; this fluid accumulates during the night, the vessels are 
congested, excess of blood is attracted to the parts, dreams are 
excited in that connection, and emission takes place, just as dreams 
are excited by an over-distended bladder, and urine is passed in 
the bed, for Nature will not be cheated. 

These nocturnals occur with varied frequency ; the oftener, 
in proportion as the person is virtuous ; meaning thereby, absti¬ 
nence from sexual intercourse; and in proportion as the health 
is vigorous, and the manly powers are all right; and yet, in the 
face of these known facts, the books referred to make it appear 
that these very nocturnals, which are the water-ways, escape pipes 
of a healthy nature, are unmistakable proofs of a disgracefully 
diseased condition of the reproductive functions ; they are sim¬ 
ply the spontaneous efforts of Nature to relieve herself of an 


THE APPETITES. 


573 


over-accumulation, and would occur if a youth had never seen a 
woman, nor ever conversed, or been permitted to associate with 
any human being ; they would occur'in all healthy youths as in¬ 
evitably as a discharge from the bladder, the rectum, the ear, or 
the nostrils. 

They appear as early as fourteen, and take place with increas¬ 
ing frequency, until they amount, on an average, to five or six or 
eight a month, for five" or ten years, when they begin to abate, 
and by thirty, average two or three a month. It is the testimony 
Of distinguished medical men, that they have occurred as often 
as six or eight times a month for successive years, the parties 
have married without any ill result traceable to that tiling; 
children being'born as numerous and as healthy as to others. 

They are more or less debilitating when occurring in excess; 
when they are found to be so, then measures should be taken to 
bring them down to a safe average of four or five a month; this 
can be doiie in three ways: . 

By medicine. 

By marriage. 

By Hygienic measures. 

There are medicines which seem to control them while they 
are taken, but they require to be given in increased quantities, 
even when they are efficient: endangering the destruction of the 
reproductive power; of course, no honorable physician could 
persuade, himself for any price to risk, even remotely, such a 
serious result. Bromide of potash, in ten or fifteen grain doses, 
three times a day, has, in some cases, appeared to have a control¬ 
ling effect, at least for the time being, but any one may know, 
that- what represses for a day,, may, by continuance or excess, 
control forever, which means to be no man for all after life. 

But this is not the object of these book writers : they would 
not succeed in repressing if they could; and nine times in ten 
they fail, beyond a transient effect; so they lead along the'pa¬ 
tient until the close of the first term for which they have been 
paid; then they advise, that as it seems to be a stubborn case it 
would-be best to take a second course of medicine, to complete 
what was begun ; at the end of that time, if they find that the 
weak-minded youth has spent all his living, or from any cause is 
not willing to pay more, the statement is made that it is an ex¬ 
traordinary case, rarely one is - ever . met with so difficult of 


574: 


nALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


management, and that under the circumstances, there is no cure 
but marriage. 

“ But this is impossible for me at present.” 

“ In that case it would be better to keep a woman.” 

Such are the morals of the persons who write the books 
already referred to, and who send their advertisements to family 
newspapers, under the headings of “ Nervous Debility,” “ Benevo¬ 
lent Association,” “ Advice to Youth,” and other taking titles. 

But there is another form in which their deceptions are prac¬ 
tised : ignorant and credulous and weak-minded persons are 
persuaded that certain glairy fluids which exude from parts after 
urination or defecation are sapping the very foundations of 
health; that it is nothing more or less than the involuntary loss 
of seminal fluid, a drawing away of the very life-blood, and 
unless arrested, incompetency is an inevitable and permanent re¬ 
sult. This they promise to cure certainly and soon. But this 
glairy substance is what Nature prepares to lubricate the channels, 
as water is prepared to lubricate the eye. Sometimes .this sub¬ 
stance is greater than others, as the eye sometimes waters more 
than common; or the nose, in consequence of a cold or inflammation; 
it is simply, when in excess, a catarrh of the parts; the inflam¬ 
mation is sometimes caused by the urine being more feverish or 
irritating than usual. These oozing substances have been ex¬ 
amined by professional men in the most careful manner, and are 
always found wholly destitute of those living things which are 
essential to the seminal fluid. 

At another time they are told that proof of diseased conditions 
is present in the fact that one testicle is greatly more relaxed • 
than the other; or that one has disappeared, or that they have 
failed to come down ; the parties make an examination ; find it 
is so, for they see it, and forthwith yield themselves willing cap¬ 
tives to the falsities which are taught them. The facts of the 
case are, that these all are natural appearances, are natural condi¬ 
tions, depending on those natural contractions and relaxations 
which belong to the parts, under the varying conditions of heat 
and cold, of excitement and repose. 

It is pitiful to think how men could become so degraded as to 
persuade themselves to follow, as a calling, such despicable prac¬ 
tices; but they find it profitable. One individual, in the course of a 
very few years, rolled up a fortune of over a hundred thousand 


THE APPETITES. ' 575 

dollars ; his charges in some cases amounting to five hundred 
dollars. 

It is by these books that the minds of boys are corrupted, pre¬ 
paratory to engaging in depraved practices in some cases ; and 
in others, where there is a living conscience, groundless fears, wear¬ 
ing apprehensions, and wasting remorse's, make life a misery, and 
many times, a burden, too heavy to be borne, and rest is found 
only in suicide ; and as no parent can tell that his boy may not fall 
into these wiles, it becomes the duty of fathers and mothers to 
make themselves acquainted with the whole subject, and -devise 
measures appropriate to each particular case, temperament, and 
disposition; to warn, to instruct, and to save. But in approaching 
a boy in this connection, it will be found better not to make a 
great secret of it; not to go into some inner room, and lock the 
door and get at it in a most gingerly, roundabout manner, but to 
speak of it as a matter of fact, one of every day occurrence, and 
one that it is rather better to pay some attention to; and then 
occasions may be taken to suggest, in a very incidental way,: that 
books treating of such subjects are not worth reading, were writ¬ 
ten by bad men, and that nothing they contain can be relied on. 

The third method, the Hygienic plan of keeping nocturnals 
within what might be called natural, safe, and unhurtful bounds, 
averaging a hebdomadal occurrence, is simply to remember, first, 
that warmth promotes excitement of the parts; without warmth 
it is impossible to occur; hence sleep in a cool room; not on a 
' feather-bed, but a mattress, or even on the floor, the very hard¬ 
ness of which draws attention away from desire ; have but very 
little cover on the body; but have abundant bedclothes from 
above the middle of the thighs downwards, so as to keep the lower 
limbs extra warm, thus drawing the blood away from the parts in 
question. 

As lascivious dreams come in the unsound sleep of the early 
morningj or in second naps, avoid going to sleep after having once 
waked up. If a person needs only seven hours’ sound sleep, but 
spreads it over nine hours, none of the sleep will be very sound ; 
hence dreams which attend unsound sleep will be very certain to 
take place; but suppose all the sleep is concentrated within the 
seven hours, then it is all sound, there is no time or opportunity 
for .dreams ; hence the trouble is avoided, in many cases, simply 


576 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


by arranging to remain in bed only seven hours, not sleeping at 
any other time of the twenty-four. 

The more full the bladder is, the greater the heat of the parts; 
and as it is heat which brings the dreams, much is gained.by 
urinating the last thing on going to bed, and also if waked up 
during the night. 

There have been various mechanical devices for waking up 
the person before much excitement can take place, such as rings 
or bands, with spikes in them, which press into the parts as soon as ' 
the enlargement of excitement takes place-; these are objectionable, 
because they are dangerous. Suppose the person slept so soundly 
as not to be waked up, then the ring or band would obstruct the 
circulation, and the rupture of an important blood-vessel might 
take place. And then again, it must be borne in mind, that to 
a certain extent these nocturnals are necessary, and it is not de¬ 
sirable to suppress them altogether, even if it could be done. 
But there are times when a youth becomes so possessed with a 
falsity, that it is almost impossible for his mind to be set aright, 
and he broods over fancied ill conditions for a great part of his 
waking existence, until the mind becomes almost unbalanced, 
and he is a short remove from insanity. Such a case occurred 
within a year, the only son of a widowed mother, but death 
happily came to his rescue. It is the idea of incompetency. 
•There is one short way of settling this.question in any specified 
case. There is always competency where there is erection; it 
is only when the part never rises from a flaccid condition that 
in competency is a demonstration; never rises for an instant. 
If, for the shortest second, the part can be made to be at right 
angles to the person without touching, simply by an effort of the 
will, all idea of incompetency is absolutely groundless. 

Going back now, many pages, the subject branched from 
may be resumed. IIow eacli person may settle the point of- 
frequency, natural, proper, safe, and healthful for him. It can be’ 
done as certainly as each one can determine how much sleep he 
requires* by simply going to bed at a regular hour, and getting 
up in the morning the moment he wakes up; or, which would be 
better, remaining in bed-long enough to allow the whole system 
• to wake up gradually, and the feeling of tiredness passes away 
from the limbs; only do not go to’ sleep again, nor sleep a mo-, 
ment in the daytime; in this way, any one can tell within a 


THE APPETITES. 


577 


week how* much sleep his system requires ; and if he retires 
regularly, he will wake up within a very few minutes of the 
same time, except that in heavy, damp weather, or from unusual 
exercise or labor, he may sleep a little longer; so in the matter 
under consideration, what is needful can be ascertained, when 
both parties are healthy, and have no peculiarities of tempera¬ 
ment or constitution; when this is the case, there is, in the act of 
reproduction, at least once in the month, during the child-bear¬ 
ing period, a synchronism in the consummation; and this should 
not be on the instant; if it is, the consummations must be in¬ 
creased in frequency, even if diurn ally, and kept up, until at least 
a score or two of movements are necessary. If more than that, or 
if attended with perspiration and cessation for rest, before comple¬ 
tion, then are the powers of Nature overtaxed ; it is excess; 
the prostate gland is stimulated beyond its healthful abilities, de¬ 
bilities and congestions or sub-acute inflammations follow, to end 
in a disease connected with the water works, which is of fre¬ 
quent occurrence among men past fifty; a disease which comes 
along insidiously, but with the steady and irresistible advance of 
an avalanche, finally racking with pain, and embittering every 
moment of the waking existence. But men inflict these pains and 
penalties on themselves from the want of knowledge on the sub¬ 
ject; a knowledge of the kind-which has been communicated in 
the few past pages, and which never has been found in books be¬ 
fore, and was never understood, except among professional men. 
And if, in the course of years, the circulation of this book shall 
be extensive enough to-induce-some thousands of men to study 
and understand the subject, and practise the precepts given, by 
abstinences to the extent of coming short of excess, and by indul¬ 
gences to the extent of preventing the six occurrences or condi¬ 
tions named in a previous page, not only will health be improved, 
and the moral nature advanced and purified by the prevention of 
lustings, but the satisfactions of consummations will be as vivid 


at threescore, as at thirty, instead of incompetency and imbecility 
at forty, as was the case with one of the brightest minds of our 
country; one who made a notable mark on the times in which 
he lived, for he was as brilliant as he was powerful, but of un¬ 
bridled animal passions: no reason, no sense of decency, no 
consideration of social position or family claims, could or did re¬ 
strain him; he ran riot in his lusts, and before he was fifty he 



HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


was a nihility, died an outcast, homeless and a driveller in his old 
a<xo, after having been one of the most admired and honored men 
of his day' and generation, the associate and the peer of the mag¬ 
nates of the land. . 

Yet men will recklessly brave these dangers and disgraces as 
they brave the dangers and disgraces which inevitably follow 
habitual drunkenness. Some would reform if they could ; if the 
temptations or the opportunities were removed. Perhaps some 
may be saved by being shown how to avoid the hurtful indul¬ 
gences alluded to. This is discussed more at length in the au¬ 
thor’s book on “ Sleep,” it being one of the subjects connected 
with the sleeping hours; but the main idea is, that if married 
persons slept in separate rooms, or at least in separate beds, as is 
the almost universal custom in Germany and Holland especially,- 
several very great advantages would result, in regard to comfort 
and health. 

It is known that if two persons, one healthy and one sickly, 
sleep in the same bed, the healthy one will become diseased, 
without the sickly one being benefited ; this is notably so, when 
a little child sleeps with a feeble old person Hence, as it sel¬ 
dom happens that both man and wife are in perfect health in all 
respects, at all times, at least one party would be saved from in¬ 
jury by sleeping alone. 

Good, sound, refreshing sleep and abundant, is essential to the 
health and well-being of every one; how important to a nursing 
mother, to the toiling farmer, to the hard-worked mechanic, it is 
easy to imagine ; how uncomfortable it is to be waked out of a 
sound sleep, and how very difficult it is, when thus roused, 
to get to sleep again, very many know by repeated expe¬ 
riences. It is easy to be waked up by one turning over in bed, 
by a cough, a groan, a nightmare yell or terror. Then, some of 
the worst forms of low T fevers are induced by too many persons 
occupying the same room; terrible narrations of this kind are 
given in the book just named ; and to that extent will injury be 
done by the bodily emanations of two in the same bed ; besides 
breathing an atmosphere already contaminated by having been 
breathed by another. 

Opportunity makes importunity. If a plate of cakes is always 
on the table where little children are playing about all day, as 
often as their eyes fall on it, there is a want and a request of the 


AMENOmnCEA. 


579 


motlier for one of them; hut if out of sight, if there were no cakes 
there, they would only be thought of when natural hunger came. 
So, if married persons slept in different rooms, the indulgences 
would only be specially thought of, when there existed a nat¬ 
ural, healthy appetite for the same; and as food is the more en¬ 
joyable from the longer interval of fasting, so here. In this way, 
troublesome temptations are escaped, and a rational temperance 
would be practised without inconvenience. The subject merits se¬ 
rious consideration, and every husband of intelligence and force 
of character who reads these lines will at once, for his own best 
interests, begin to make such observations and experiments as 
will enable him to decide what are his needs, to what extent does 
his. temperament require the reproductive gratifications, and will 
habitually and rigidly adhere to the allowance, as all rational, 
well-balanced minds impose a limit to the gratification of the 
appetite for food and drink. 

■ ■ - - • 


AMENORRIKEA 

i 

is an . interruption or cessation of the monthly periods. 
Healthy cessation occurs temporarily on becoming pregnant, and 
at the turn of life permanently. Interruption is the result of 
colds, exposure to dampness, or nervous shock, or some great 
trouble; when it occurs in the progress of any disease, it is a 
dangerous indication, as in consumption ; most commonly the in¬ 
terruption is the result of colds taken; hence mothers should 
begin early, to impress on the mind the utmost importance, during 
the monthlies to avoid the application of cold in any form. 
The daughter of a wealthy gentleman alighted from her carriage 
and stood on the grass for half an hour listening to the sweet 
music of a band at the Central Park; it was a beautiful sum¬ 
mer afternoon, but an hour before there had been a shower, 
the grass was wet, the shoes were thin, the feet became damp, 
and cold; suppression took place, inflammation of the lungs set 
in, and she died in a. few days, an only daughter. Any other 
means of dampening the feet, or of making them cold while the 
monthlies are present, will bring about the same results, and so 
will the cooling off too soon after taking exercise of any kind, 
sufficient to cause even a slight perspiration, in ways similar to 




5S0 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 

those, mentioned'in the article on checking perspiration, which 
should be read in this connection, often ; and with special care 
and - intelligent attention, many a valuable life would be saved, 
thereby. 

Sometimes persons of a full habit have amenorrhoea as a perma¬ 
nent thing, and seem to have good health for years but investi¬ 
gation will show in such cases that the system has some other 
form of discharge, some running sore, some frequent loss of 
blood from the nose, from the stomach, bowels, lungs, from piles 
or other form of depletion. But in most cases of amenorrhoea 
lasting for months and years, it will be found to exist in those 
who have “ Ansemia,” which see. The first point to be deter¬ 
mined is, and it ought to be done without an hour’s delay, what 
is the cause ? is it the result of some other disease which is grad¬ 
ually destroying the system % is it causing some other disease', or 
has it originated from a transient, accidental cause, as a bad cold, 
getting drenched in a shower of rain, or other exposure ? When 
the malady comes on gradually, it is the effect of some other dis¬ 
ease in the system, in which case, the only mode of cure is to 
remove that other disease, and secure the good general health of 
the patient.* 

When cessation conies on suddenly, as in the midst of a“ turn,” 
there are ; marked symptoms, there is headache, flushed face, 
strong pulse, cold feet, with minor symptoms; make the feet 
warm, take immediate measures to have a full and free action of 
the bowels, to do which, a teaspoonful of the tincture of aloes and 
myrrh three or four times a day, so as to produce the effect of at 
least two full, free, large ’ actions of the bowels in the course of 
twenty-four hours, and then a less amount, so as to keep up 
one action every day ; the two most urgent points are to empty 
the bowels at once, by purgatives or injections ; put the feet in 
hot water with strong mustard in it, two tablespoons in a gallon, 
in a pan so as to keep the feet covered up to the ankles ; the ob¬ 
ject being to bring back warmth to the body, the absence of 
which has caused the a-ttack, and to unload it in any other direc¬ 
tion most quickly available, for the system was unloading itself 
of a surplus, and it was the interruption of-it which has caused 
the trouble; warmth may be promoted by covering up in bed, 
hot .water-bottles to the arm-pits and warm poultices to the 
breasts, the dry kinds being best, as bags of salt, or hot ashes. 


AMENOmilCEA. 


581 


Multitudes of remedies have been advised from time to time, 
vvliicli are considered to have a forcing effect, but it is a danger¬ 
ous loss of time to wait for the action of one of them; none of 
them are really efficient. After using the first efforts of warmth 
and purgation, take at bedtime three of Cook’s pills, or one 
liver pill, and patiently wait for the reappearance. But in any 
case of the non-appearance of the monthlies, first determine 
whether it is the result of pregnancy, whether the person is mar¬ 
ried or not; this question must be investigated, for if there is ac¬ 
tive purgation or other means to make the monthlies reappear, 
when in reality there, is a child, the life of mother and child are 
imminently endangered by a single purgative. The patient ought- 
to know the facts of the case, and must take the responsibility of 
action. . * . 

DYSMENORRIKEA 

is when the monthly turns are attended with difficulty, or pain 
and suffering; this is the case of some women all their lives; 
sometimes pregnancy is a permanent cure. Ordinary painful 
menstruation is either from some mechanical cause, or it is func¬ 
tional ; in this latter case, the patient begins to feel badly, there 
are pains in the back, in the head, in the region of the womb, 
changing, darting, hurting pains ; the belly is sometimes swol¬ 
len, relieved by pressing the hand on it; all of these symptoms 
are relieved when the discharge takes place. 

If the trouble is of mechanical origin, as swellings about .the 
mouth of the womb, constriction, or its misplacement or its 
closure, wisdom directs to the skilful "physician. 

But from whatever cause, avoid being on the feet much for a 
day or two before the time ; lie down as much as possible, have 
the bowels act daily, eat moderately, and go to bed as soon as the 
pain begins, keeping the whole body abundantly warm. Cloths 
dipped in hot water, or water and spirits, and after being wrung 
out, laid while hot on the belly, renewed often, give grateful re¬ 
lief. Sometimes large injections of liot water into the vagina 
give immediate relief, drinking hot tea the meanwhile; in severe 
cases, a dose of paregoric is- advantageous. 

MENORRHAGIA 

is when there is too much or too frequent a flow, caused by a 


532 


HALL'S FAMLLY DOCTOR 


want of vigorous health, or brought on. temporarily by overwork, 
great fatigue, a tendency to bleeding of various kinds, too great 
excitement of the genital organs, over-marital indulgence. All 
that is to be done is to . a void the causes and use the means to 
obtain more vigorous “ general health," which see. 

• • • 

. ‘ LETTCOKRHCEA, 

whites, Female weakness, or Fluor Albus is a discharge caused 
by falling of the womb, or by a want of good health; if the 
womb is misplaced or disarranged, a physician should be called 
in to rectify it; but this is seldom the cause in any one who has 
good general health, because that very health keeps the womb 
healthy and in its place, and prevents that relaxation of the parts 
which keep it in position; while their relaxation very naturally 
attends a want of general health. Hence it may be set doWn 
pretty certain, that when a profuse discharge from the parts is 
present, it arises from a want of good health, and means should 
be adopted to secure it, such as regular eating, warm feet. This 
“ flow " is generally of a whitish color, sometimes yellowish or 
greenishif there is any blood at all, it is not leucorrlicea, but 
the whites. It is a troublesome and verv annoving affection, 
and becoming more and more common, as the habits of the peo- 
' pie become more sedentary and self-indulgent. Multitudes of 
remedies have been advised for the whites, none of which are 
efficient or do any safe, permanent good ; astringent remedies as 
white-oak bark, “ ooze,” as it is called in country places, being the 
water in which white-oak bark has been boiled ; it acts as an as¬ 
tringent ; alum water would do the same thing, or logwood water, 
or claret wine, but all remedies of this character, in proportion 
as they have the desired effect, do harm, because they do to 
that extent thwart Nature; she is trying to get rid of unhealthy 
humors; while these things tend to stop them up, to keep them in 
the body; but Nature will not be interfered with, with impunity, 
in this way; if there are cases in which these styptic remedies must 
be used, care ought always to be taken to have at least one action 
of the bowels during every twenty-four hours, if not two, the idea 
being that if you stop tip a sluice which Nature is opening at one 
point, we must open another elsewhere. There are in reality only 
two things to be done in functional or constitutional menorrhagia, 
or female weakness ruse all means-possible to maintain the general 


AMENOBRIKEA. 


533 


health, and keep the parts as scrupulously and as perfectly clean 
as intelligent care can doat least twice a day, in the momma- 
and at night, the “ vagina ” (which see) should be most thoroughly 
syringed with cold or warm water. First get over a basin of 
water, cold, cool, or warm, and flap it up with the hand, rapidly, 
against all the surrounding parts; then use the syringe with other 
water, clean and fresh, the last syringeful being cold water, if 
not very particularly disagreeable. 

The most popular remedies in Homoeopathy are Pulsatilla, 
Sepia, and Mercurius, requiring, as other pathies do, a simple 
nutritive diet, and a large exposure to the open air,, avoiding 
fatigue, over-exertion, standing still, even for a moment, unneces¬ 
sarily, using cocoa and arrow-root, instead of tea and coffee. 

It ought to be known that the discharge in whites may become 
so acrid as to cause a diseased condition of the male member, 
such as inflammation and peeling, off of the skin, but this will 
soon cure itself in a healthy person in a very few days; but, in 
order to prevent uneasiness of mind, it should be known that 
studious cleanliness and free use of the syringe, as above indi¬ 
cated, is an effectual guarantee against any annoyance. 

The water-cure practice is to use hip baths and vaginal in¬ 
jections freely, four or five times a day; if cold water irritates, use 
warm; in all cases begin with a temperature of ninety degrees, 
gradually falling to fifty. If there is any blood, water at forty 
should be thrown up, and cold cloths applied to the belly, and 
as a diet, brown, bread, cracked wheat, fruits and vegetables, 
with as much out-door air as it is possible to secure, without that 
over fatigue which aggravates the malady. 

There are, then, three forms of abnormal Catamenia: 

Amenorrhoea, when they do not appear. 

Dysmenorrhoea, when their appearance is attended with more 
or less pain or suffering. • . * 

Menorrhagia, when there is an excessive discharge from the 

• • 

parts. 

Whether the Catamenia have never appeared, or whether hav¬ 
ing appeared for a time they have ceased, the great points to be 
kept in view are two: 

First, improve the general health. 

Second, attract the blood of the body to the parts. 

The first is done by improving the general health; secure a 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


.584 

regular, daily action of the bowels; use all possible efforts to 
keep the feet always warm; dress warmly, avoid taking colds, 
be moderately busy all the time in work which does not over 
fatigue, exercising in some way, at least two hours in the fore¬ 
noon, and one hour in the afternoon in the open air, out of doors, 
in as joyous a mood as possible, using a fruit and coarse bread 
diet, which see. In this way good blood is made for the body, 
and when it comes to the sexual parts, its inevitable tendency is 
•to stimulate them healthfully, and invite a steady flow in that 
direction. That is done by warmth, not by external or internal 
stimulants,, but by securing to the parts a natural warmth, which 
sooner or later brings on natural action. Medicines are given 
for that purpose, called Emmenagogues, but it is extremely doubt¬ 
ful whether any of them ever had a healthful effect in bringing 
on the Catamenia ; but securing that object through the improve¬ 
ment of the general health, is always safe, and will always be 
efficient in any case that could have been cured by other means. 

The best, way to bring warmth to the parts as a means of in¬ 
viting the catamenial flow is to take a sitz bath of ten minutes 
with both feet in hot water nearly up to the knees; at the same 
time, a bath of a hundred degrees, then about ten seconds sit 
in cold water, feet also. But if the feet are comfortable, sit half 
an hour at a time in water of ninety degrees, allowing it to cool 
down to eighty and even seventy, by the time the bath is ended; 
these baths should be taken twice a day, before breakfast and 
near bedtime. The best results may be expected from the above 
course, always keeping the bowels free, and when practicable, take' 
an hour’s horseback exercise daily. 

A similar treatment is specially applicable to cases where the 
catamenial flow is attended with difficulty and suffering. But 
when tliey # are excessive, it is often because the blood is poor; 
then the course already advised, which makes better blood, more 
healthy blood, is the best possible to remedy an excessive flow. 
To know when the discharge is excessive, is of importance. The 
healthful flow lasts from three to six days, on an average ; the 
average is perhaps three days ; if it lasts longer than six days it 
may be set down as excessive ; if the flow leaves the person weak, 
dispirited, languid in .mind and body, it is excessive, usually,'al¬ 
most always, induced by one of three things: overwork, poor fbod, 
general ill-health. Quantity, duration, or frequency are not to be 


ABORTION. 


•585 


so much the guide, in deciding that any case is excessive; it is 
the effects ; if there is debility, languor, exhaustion, in proportion, 
the flow is excessive in. that case, for in a healthy condition the 
spirits rise, there is an increased alacrity of body and activity of 
mind and joyonsness of spirits, which show that all is well. 

The causes have already been reverted to in detail, but the almost 
universal cause is a want of vigorous health, induced generally 
by constipation, cold feet, irregular eating, want of out-door ex¬ 
ercise, too close confinement in warm rooms and having little or 
nothing to employ mind or body actively and profitably. Leu- 
corrhoea is, in many respects, in cause, conditions, manifestations, 
and effects, like menorrhagia; the latter may readily slide into the 
former, and the best and most certain and most enduring cure for 
both is to build up the general health ; it is doubtful if anything 
has a tendency to cure, except in proportion as the general health 
is restored, together with vaginal washings most thoroughly done 
two or three times every day, for there is reason to- suppose that 
there is a virus.in the leueorrhoeal discharge which keeps it up; 
all may be washed out except in some little nook or corner or fold 
of the skin, to infect the other parts which were cleansed, just as 
a little fire left anywhere may spread over the whole building 
again, making safety to consist in a complete putting out of 
the fire ; the same principle is involved in vaginal washings. Let 
them be well done and the greater will be the promise of cure. 
Ilomoeopathists give Pulsatilla when the discharge is cream-like, 
then Oalcarea, four days after second dose of Puls. Sepia, to 
delicate, exhausted persons. Mercurius, when the discharge is 
thick, yellow matter, or greenish, or corrosive. Alumina, when 
profuse. Graphites, when watery and acrid; Acid Nit. when 
brown, slimy, offensive, corrosive. 

-- 

ABORTION- 

means arising or coming up out of season ; applied to humanity, 
it means a birth before the time. 

It will best answer a practical purpose, and be more easily un¬ 
derstood, to say that Abortion is accidental or artificial; it is 
accidental when it arises from causes in the mother or outside of 
her; It may be caused in the mother by malformation ; by the 
death of the unborn ; by excessive nervousness; great debility; 




5SG 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


exhaustive employments ; by the tilting of a chair from placing 
the foot too near its edge ; by a misstep in coming down stairs; 
by the use of step-ladders in adjusting curtains or hanging 
paintings, or by efforts .which require straining, lifting sideways, 
hoisting windows at arm’s length, by working until fagged out, 
or until heated and wearied in the endeavor to finish up some 
work in hand; the loss of a child is of frequent occurrence in 
these various ways, as also on occasions of having “ company,** 
when a wife’s' pride is very apt to stimulate her to exertions 
beyond her strength; at other times servants leave unexpectedly ; 
in short, whatever causes any great mental or bodily shock, or 
any great bodily or mental strain, especially if long continued, is 
capable of producing an abortion. 

That which becomes the child healthfully born into the world 
at the end of nine months from the moment of its generation, 
by the effectual congress of the sexes, has different .names, 
according to the time which has passed from the impregnating 
act, as Foetus, Embryo, Germ, etc. The term “ unborn child ” will 
be here used to express the whole duration of being, from the 
moment of impregnation or sexual congress to the moment of 
birth. From the first instant of successful impregnation, there 
must be life; there must be the germ both of body and of soul, 
having in it all the elements of a perfect body and a perfect soul, 
which only need to be let alone to grow into a full and perfect 
human being. To destrov it at any moment of its life, from the 
first, to the moment of birth, would be as certainly a murder as 
the killing of a full-grown man, because within that germ are all 
the elements of a man ; which, had it been permitted to live, might - 
have been a. benefactor of the race. The moral code of physi¬ 
cians is stern and uncompromising on this subject; the destruction 
of the germ, at any age of its unborn life, is regarded as 
perfectly inexcusable on any other ground than that of its 
demonstrable necessity, as a means of preserving the life of the 
mother; the rule is this: if mother or child must die, clearly 
must, then let it be the child. But no honorable physician can 
ever bring himself to the point of sacrificing the unborn's life 
under any other pretence whatever; and so conscientious and 
high-minded are they on this subject, that a proposition to that 
effect for any other reason than to save the mother’s life, is resented 
as an insult, however high the source from which so infamous 


ABORTION. 


5S7 


a proposition comes. The teachings of the Homan Catholic 
Church (see a few pages after) oh this subject have always been 
clear, explicit, and uncompromising; that the deliberate destruc¬ 
tion of an unborn is a murderous deed, and it is to be hoped that 
the time is not far distant when all branches of the Christian 
Church shall be as outspoken, and will visit with their severest pen¬ 
alties all infractions of a law, whose violation is in such palpable 
opposition to the Divine precept, to “ multiply and replenish the 
earth,” that being one of the main objects of the marriage rela¬ 
tion, which is as holy in its nature as it is Divine in its institu¬ 
tion. Let every man and woman in these matters stand in their 
lot, and meet all life’s responsibilities bravely, honorably, without 
shirking, without trickery, without manoeuvring to outwit the 
Omniscient One, who wisely made man. to perpetuate the race, 
in order eventually to people heaven with saved and glorified 
immortals. 

If the o’erm is brought forth before the end of the'seventh 

<D <D 


month by deliberate artificial means, it should be properly called 
an Abortion ; if from accidental causes, a Miscarriage; if caused 
by any means before the ninth month, and after the beginning 
of the seventh month, it is a Premature Delivery. By whatever 
means abortion is intentionally induced, the same, and in many 
cases a thousand times worse effects are left on the constitution, 
than if it were an accidental occurrence. 

In whatever way an abortion is induced, shocks are imparted, 
which are never rallied from ; but when intentional, life-long re¬ 
sults follow which it is painful to contemplate, let alone endure ; 
a chronic menstrual flow often follows a single abortion, to be 
a source of life-long annoyance and debility, if not severe 
disease, and how often fatal, the city physician too well knows. 
If abortion takes place in the early months, a profuse and even 
fatal flooding is by no means an unlikely result; is liable, very 
liable to take place in any case; but even if this does not take 
place, the uterus is left engorged with blood, inducing excessive 
menstruation, chronic congestion, enlargement or granulations, 
only to be recovered from, if at all, by a long, wearisome, baffling, 
and expensive course of treatment. 

Nature’s method is to deliver at the end of the ninth month; 
the earlier this is done, the worse, the more dangerous under all 
circumstances; a first month’s abortion is more likely to be fatal 


5S3 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


than any later one, because the uterus is then small, and the re¬ 
moval of the placenta, or after-birth, is attended with great diffi¬ 
culty and hazard, and fatal flooding is likely to occur in any 
case until the removal is accomplished; or the placenta not com¬ 
ing away, has to rot within the womb, become absorbed, and thus 
poisons the whole constitution. Small wonder is it then, that abor¬ 
tions, especially early ones, are regarded by all experienced phy¬ 
sicians as a most unfortunate event in every single case ; even in 
the very few cases where no serious results are observed, it is 
only a seeming escape; sooner or later the penalty will be inflict¬ 
ed. But these are physical sins only, sins against the body; 
there is a moral guilt, a sin against the soul, against humanity, 
against the unborn, for -which there is no self-atonement.,, for it is 
murder; a holy human life has been destroyed, and if that is 
done within a week after impregnation, it is a life destroyed, as 
truly as if six months gone,” or any later period. Although 
quickening does not occur until four and a half months, that 
does not indicate that there was no life; it only shows when the 
mother first noticed life; life was from the instant of the im¬ 
pregnating act. 

Bearing children is a healthful process, if a proper course of 
living has been observed ; actually increases the chances of living 
longer ; where one woman’s health suffers from child-bearing, 
many suffer immeasurably more from induced abortions. 

It is not only a crime to procure an abortion; it is a crime, in 
lawful wedlock, to avoid impregnation, not only as shown in the 
after part of this chapter, but in the direction of leaving the 
natural passions ungratified; and when this is the case, it is in¬ 
evitable that the mind shall not be filled with unholy desires, 
lascivious imaginations, impure thoughts; and these moral 
adulteries of “looking on a woman to lust after her,” making- 
them daily adulteries, and the “ lust” is the same in either sex. 
Then there is that terrible remorse for wrong-doing, which may 
never be washed from off the hands, to follow on in all after 
life, a cloud upon every happiness, a blight on every joy, a 
veil upon, the sunshine of one’s whole after existence. 

IN THE DARKNESS 

things are done which cause inscrutable diseases; and as every 


ABORTION. 


589 


one who reads this article once will read it again, and perhaps 
many times, it is purposed to word it with great care, and make 
it plain enough to he understood fully by those whom it most 

concerns. . 

. » • 

Whether in the palatial mansion of the city, or the hut of the 
forest, the little child is an angel of light and gladness; so or¬ 
dained by Omnipotence, as the means of perpetuating the race, 
of peopling heaven with angels, gathered as redeemed ones from 
all of humankind that are born. There is an increasing num¬ 
ber of husbands and wives who antagonize this design, on the 
ground that the expense, and trouble, and care of children make 
it necessary to limit the family. 

All the means used impair the health of the wife ; not a few 
endanger life. The wife suffers most, for she sins and is sinned 
against; not only is the body injured, but the moral sense is 
impaired. . . 

The means oftenest employed are imperfect marital rights; 
cessation before the instant of completion, when the whole 
nature is aroused to the' utmost tension, involving every fibre of 
the system. To arrest the progress instantaneously, throw back 
into the system and quench remorselessly what would have the 
next moment become a new life, and which in the lapse of time 
might have added glory to tlie race, is but a short remove from 
murder. The man must feel degraded in the act; the woman, 
in the aim to avoid the responsibilities for which she was created, 
must have remorse, at the moment the whole reproductive sys¬ 
tem is shocked in the disappointment of its appeasement. 

In some of the Roman Catholic books of devotion there are 
many useful teachings in regard to such matters, and so deli¬ 
cately proposed, that only, gross minds are excited wantonly. 
Two lessons are taught, which the whole Protestant world ought 
to know; lessons which, by being silently impressed on the 
mind • by frequent reading and in devotional contemplation, 
come to have in time the preventive power of a direct revelation, 
attention to which is as beneficial to the physical nature as it is 
to the rei imo us. 

• o . . 

First: Whoever performs any act from the instant of concep¬ 
tion, to destroy life, to blight and blast the flower, is guilty oi 


mukdek. 


500 


HALL'S FAMIL Y DOCTOR. 


There is no prudish mincing of words; nothing is left in¬ 
definite, obscure; it is not a mere hint; it teaches that the 
destruction of a germ of immortality, whether it be a minute or 
a month old, whether before or after birth, is nothing less than 

MURDER. 

This is the. true doctrine, because the motive and.the effect is 
the same; it is simply thwarting the purpose? of the Almighty 
Father of us all, as plainly declared in Ilis revealed Word, in the 
very beginning of human existence,—“ Multiply and replenish.” 
To destroy what would have been a life, is doing as much to 
thwart Omnipotence as to kill at any moment after life began; 
hence the far-reac.liing prescription of the second lesson incul¬ 
cated ; a lesson universally needed, a lesson universally disre¬ 
garded,- violated, every night of the world (see our book on 
“Sleep”). It was foreshadowed, at least it was in the mind’s 
eye of the poet, when he wrote the lines,— 

“ Linked sweetness long drawn out.” 

The idea is, that the marital right, the act of reproduction, 
should be continuous until completed; no cessation for protract¬ 
ing gratification, because it baffles Nature, it deranges the deli¬ 
cate machinery, and sometimes breaks it as effectually as a 
machine would be, which, revolving at the rate of a hundred 
revolutions in a second, is stopped still in an instant; it would 
break any mechanism to atoms. Nature cannot bear these 
violences with impunity, and hence are monstrosities of birth! 
The lesson is completed by announcing that the- object should 
be, as much as possible, to comply with the requirement to 
“ replenish,” and as little as possible for the mere gratification 
of propensities. 

This subject has been introduced thus into our pages with the 
utmost reluctance ; but it has -been so studiously avoided by the 
pulpit and the press, that a sentiment has actually grown up in 
the minds of many that if a child is destroyed any time before 
birth, there is no harm in it; that it is only murder when the 
full-born infant is strangled; while in reality, not only is that a 
murderous, crime, but using means to prevent an immortal life, 


ABORTION. 


501 


while indulging in the pleasures connected with it, is not less a 
murder, is not less a crime, a crime against the Infinite One, as 
its direct aim is to thwart IIis purposes. 

It was not considered advisable to give the slightest intimation 
how an abortion might be designedly induced, because it would 
be putting murderous weapons in the hands of the morally weak, 
but it is of immense importance for every virtuous and conscien¬ 
tious wife to know how accidental abortions may occur, how they 
may be averted. ' 

If an accidental abortion takes place, even once, there is an 
increased liability to it at every additional impregnaiton, 
and more likely to occur about the same time. If .it happens in 
the tenth week, there is a liability that it will occur when the 
next tenth week of pregnancy arrives, and -if a second occurs, 
then a third is still more likely to take place. 

Of course the danger of a second abortion can be certainly 
avoided by abstaining from the marital right, but this is incon¬ 
venient, and it is a wrong to the other side of the house, a wrong 
to both, because ungratified desires lead inevitably and always to 
lasciviousness, to moral adulteries, and on the part of the men, 
in a proportion of cases so large that if mentioned it would be 
received with incredulity—for whatever may be said, men will 
feel that they have a right, and if that right is not obtained in 
one place they will have it in another, thus easily persuading 
themselves into the belief that what- they want to do, it is right to 
do. Many a man has been honorably faithful to his wife up to 
this point, then has committed one fatal transgression, which, 
opening his eyes to new fields of delight, they are never closed 
again, never ; the fence once broken down, 

TIIE RUBICON 

once crossed, there is no return forever to marital fidelity, for 
there is a fascination in promiscuousness a thousand times more 
resistless than the first winnings ;n a game or a lottery, and the 
first step becomes a fatal one. Literally, thousands women have 
themselves cast the die of marital infidelity by placing a barrier 
to marital rights, doing it thoughtlessly many times, never, per¬ 
haps, imagining the result, never intending such a result, but 
that result will follow for all that. 


592 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


In nine cases out of ten, if the husband is not satisfied at home, 
lie will obtain satisfaction elsewhere ; in nine cases out of ten 
those satisfactions once obtained, they will continue to be thus 
procured. This matter is of incalculable importance, and*there 
is scarcely in the whole range of married life a single subject 
which so imperatively claims a wife’s attention as this, and the 
want of such attention has broken up the peace of many a hith¬ 
erto'happy family. The lesson to be conveyed is this: if you are 
hungry there may be an all-sufficient reason for not gratifying 
that hunger; you may he on a plank in mid ocean many a league 
from any human help; this is an all-sufficient reason for your not 
eating, at the same time you are. just as hungry as if there was 
an abundant table set before you. If a man’s natural desires 
are not appeased, there may be ever so good a reason for it, but 
the craving is as remorseless for all that, just as much so as that 
thirst can never be quenched without a liquid drink. On a sub¬ 
ject of this sort, plainness of speech is essential to a proper un¬ 
derstanding of the. case, and yet plainness of speech is highly ob¬ 
jectionable from several points of view, but for want of proper 
plainness the actual practical force of many a valuable lesson 
has been altogether lost. 

O . • . 

This episode has been purposely made, as it was not thought 
advisable to have a separate heading, and may be carried out 
still further to very great advantage. 

A very highly esteemed - patient- called the other day, and 
in the course of a consultation, made more free from an acquaint¬ 
ance of some years’ standing, stated “ I have been married over 
six years, and have never had the marital right. The first night 
there was an objection, and the second; in consideration of my 
respect and sincere love, it was deferred, and weeks passed, and 
months, and years. Educated, cultivated, refined, with a taste in 
dress, a manner in company, faultless in person and feature, the 
admiration of all, my fortune at command, I am supposed the 
happiest of men; waiting, waiting, in hope to this hour; I am 
proud of my fidelity. What shall I do % Divorce is a disgrace 
among respectable people; it would ruin one for whom I have 
lived and waited all these years.” 

This was a noble man. In a myriad of others, his like might 
not be found again. 

Another gentleman aged thirty had been married five years, 


MARITAL RIGHTS. 


593 


averaging a right a year, because it gave physical pain from 
faulty formation; there was an intensity of love between them 
which was beautiful to see, and for the sacrifice of one, the other 
seemed willing to give the whole soul. But note the result; un¬ 
appeased nature refused to be satisfied ; there was too much force 
of character, too high a moral sense, to descend to corrupting 
third parties, yet the contemptible substitute of self was obtained, 
with the result of a ruined constitution and a grave within a year. 

There can be no rule for the observance of marital rights, no 
more than there can be a rule making out how many ounces of 
solid food each man requires at a meal, for there are differences 
of age, temperament, constitution, and capabilities, and conditions 
which greatly modify circumstances. To understand the whole 
subject properly, some preliminary statements are necessary. 
During the impregnating period of life, it is perhaps more 
frequently so than othenvise, that there is no special sexual in¬ 
clination in married women, except at that monthly recurring 
period, when the system is most capable of efficient impregna¬ 
tion, which is within a few hours after the complete cessation of 
the monthly flow; as to the domestic animals, it is termed being 
in “ heat.” Men in health are always prepared. Putting these 
two statements- together, another one makes the whole condition 
of things more compact and concise, rendering it easier to take 
the wdiole situation in at a glance. Except at this time, the sex is 
passive in the act of right, there is no giving up of anything, no 
loss of bodily substance, hence no resulting debility or drain, 
hence no injury; there can be none under the circumstances, not 
even the injury of effort, of expended strength, because there is 
none wdiere there is perfect impassiveness, indifference ; then it 
follows that in this direction there is no reasonable limit to ad¬ 
missions, if rest and sleep are not infringed. But in the other 
direction there is an immense difference in capabilities, even when 
there is £ood health, as there is an immense difference in the 
strength of mind of any hundred men, all being in perfect health. 
The observant may tell for themselves; just as an observant man 
may tell for himself how r much or how often lie can eat. If weari¬ 
ness or debility or any other ill-feeling follows a man’s eating, 
there is excess; so in speaking or singing, so in the other direc¬ 
tion. 

A secretary of* state reported distressing exhaustion beyond a 
38 


. 594 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


monthly right, hut let every reader note the important lesson ; it 
was the result of years in the practice of cessations just the instant 
before completions, to prevent impregnation. Others have diur¬ 
nal indulgences for years together; but note the terrible lesson 

of this. A man called who had been over the world for relief, 

< 

nor was he an old man. lie had thus doubly indulged for five 
years, saving the time of catamenial presence. No injury seemed 
to result; no abatement of satisfactions ; until, with the sudden¬ 
ness of an apoplectic shock, or the thunderbolt in a clear sky, all 
capability disappeared, there was a perfect powerlessness through- 
out the whole of the reproductive functions. A steady drain of 
the vitalities was set up to dribble and dribble and dribble, in¬ 
flicting physical debilities and mental tortures which made social 
association distasteful, memory a remorse, and existence intoler¬ 
able. 

No sane man properly informed could possibly incur a risk 
like this ; but having no information of themselves, and no hints 
from books, kindred troubles have come to thousands, and thou¬ 
sands have been prematurely lost to themselves, their families* 
and to the world. And it is safe to say that tens of thousands 
would pay sums of money, large to them, to know the proper 
measure of marital indulgences as to themselves individually. 
But there is an innate repugnance to the only method of obtain¬ 
ing the information which could be had by personal conversa¬ 
tion with individuals, and would not only be unsafe as a predi¬ 
cate for rules and regulations, as being on a restricted foundation, 
but to get from others you must impart yourselves, and there 
is a sacredness of secrecy as impenetrable as the Holv of 
Holies, in matters of this kind, which is open only to the All- 
seeing Eye. Hence, the effort in this volume to convey such in¬ 
formation as may be barely necessary for the occasion, and even 
that in phrase which is.a filmy foreshadowing of the fact. Tak¬ 
ing a mAn in good health, at the age of twenty-five years, who 
has never in a single instance degraded himself by promiscuous 
gratifications, marrying a healthy woman, the great general rules 
should be observed to the extent of the preventions named in 
previous pages. But to be safe, tri-weekly until forty, semi-weekly 
until sixty, and hebdomadal thereafter.; with this measure, there 
may be at threescore and ten, satisfactions not inferior to two- 
score, as if compensatory of the failure of many other sources of 


PUERPERAL FEVER. 


505 


pleasure and enjoyment which are in full how in the earlier parts 
of life’s prime. 

-G5C- 


GETTING UP. 

* • 

Women are usually required to remain in bed ten days after 
delivery. There can be only one safe rule for all: wait until 
you feel as if getting up would do you good; as if it would rest 
you ; but do not remain up until you are tired ; better limit it 
to five minutes; then if you feel all the better for it, repeat in a 
few hours, and thus feel your way along, always returning to 
bed before a sensation of weariness comes over you. Sometimes 
it is better to sit still in a chair; at others, to walk across the 
room a few times. But until the constitutions of our women be¬ 
come more robust, no one is advised to leave the bed, even for 
five minutes, or sit up in bed that long, sooner than the third 
day. The aim should be to exert the strength but very little in 
any way, and by the slowest degrees increase the time of sitting 
up, and of walking, always stopping short at the first intimation 
of fatigue or weariness, or even tiredness. In short, the patient 
must notice, and compare, and decide for herself, how much she 
can safely do. 

PUERPERAL FEVER, 

or child-bed fever, is of an inflammatory character, either of an 
active or typhoid type. The inflammation is in the peritoneum or 
covering of the bowels, and extends to the various organs within 
the abdomen, and sometimes to the womb itself. This comes on 
with a general shivering about the third day after delivery, or 
sometimes limited to the back; this is followed by a hot skin 
and a hard, full pulse, from a hundred and ten to a hundred and 
fifteen in a minute, with headache and restlessness. The abdo¬ 
men is swollen, and the lochial discharges are checked. The 
breasts shrivel, the milk dries up. The patient lies on 'her back 
with the knees drawn up, this being the least painful position. 
The sooner it commences, the more dangerous it is. Sometimes 
it does not appear until the sixth or seventh day. As the patient 
gets better, the pain and swelling subside, the countenance is less 
anxious, it brightens up, and in a few days more all is well. 




596 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


This dangerous ailment is brought on by violence during de¬ 
livery, by a bad cold, by premature exertion, by agitation or 
mental shocks, by over-eating, or by the use of stimulants. In 
all cases where there is a decided feeling of shivering along the 
back, from the third to the eighth day after delivery, a physi¬ 
cian should be sent for at whatever cost or trouble; for early 
attention is life; delay, death. 

The causes of this affection have been stated in detail, that 
they may be studiously avoided. Only general treatment is 
advised until the physician arrives, such as an open condition of 
the bowels by enemas ; warm compresses to the abdomen in 
case of pain and swelling, without heat or fever; if these are 
present, then cold compresses; and if relief is not prompt and 
decided, take a liver pill. 

The principles of Homoeopathic treatment require the adminis¬ 
tration of Aconitum if there is fever; of Belladonna for violent 
pain or cramp, or Ilyoscyamus when swollen and sensitive; 
Bryonia, Rhus Tox if there is a low fever, or typhoid. If 
there is great thirst or depression of spirits, Mercurius meets the 
case. Nux Vomica on the instant of the disappearance of the 
lochia, or diminution of the milk, and scalding urination. 

* If the abdomen is greatly distended and pain almost unen¬ 
durable, sharp, cutting, lancinating, thighs drawn up, Colocynth 
will be valuable. 

If breasts are flaccid, no milk, colorless discharges from the 
bowels, pains as if in labor, fever, red face, nervous, impatient, 
irritable, Chamomilla is given with confidence. 

If sudden prostration, anguish of countenance, sunken feat¬ 
ures, livid face, feeble pulse, burning belly, use Arsenicum. 

If the belly cannot endure the pressure of the clothing, and all 
the symptoms are worse after sleeping, take Lachesis, or Opium, 
or Secale, or Carbo Veg. 

In addition, the utmost repose of body and mind should be 
secured in all forms of practice; darken the chamber, exclude 
all noises, and secure a well-ventilated chamber with a cool at- 
• mosphere. If thirsty, give bits of ice, or cold water by the 
spoonfuls. Flannels to abdomen, wrung out of boiling water, 
and also to genitals; tepid injections if constipated. 


MILK LEG. 


597 


MILK LEG, 

called Phlegmasia Dolens by physicians, an affection of the large 
veins of the leg in connection with a confinement; these veins 
are inflamed,, enlarge the limb, and cause considerable discom¬ 
fort. 

Apply hot fomentations to the limb, or wring a blanket 
dipped in boiling water and wrap it round the entire limb, in 
such a way as not to wet the clothing or the bed ; as soon as one 
becomes a little cool, apply another as hot as it can be borne. 
Do this for half an hour at a time and repeat it four or five 
times in twenty-four hours; the object of . this is to convey 
away the extra heat from the limb by evaporation ; hence, between 
these hot applications have the limb wrapped in a linen sheet, 
not wet enough to dribble, and a dry flannel around that, to keep 
it warm; at all these changes rub the skin with soft cloths and 
the hands, to promote the circulation, keeping the bowels lax 
every day by eating cooling, loosening food; if this does not 
avail, employ enemas, or castor-oil, epsom salts, or a purgative 
pill. In bad cases a single liver pill will answer an admirable 
purpose. 

Under any circumstances, it is specially important that the 
bowels should act freely and fully every day, after the birth of 
the child. If the patient is averse to taking medicine, an enema 
of tepid water may be used every morning in ordinary cases, or 
even a quart at a time if there is a decided tendency to constipa¬ 
tion ; meanwhile the bowels should be gently kneaded with the 
hands of the nurse, under the bedclothes for a quarter of an 
hour at a time several times a day, in order to wake up the intes¬ 
tines to a freer motion. * 

This free condition of the bowels tends to prevent and aids 
directly in curing many of the little ailments incident to the 
mother after delivery, because costiveness is the cause of most of 
them. 

Sometimes piles are troublesome, but are readily removed by 
avoiding costiveness, and bathing the parts well in cold water 
several times a day, as elsewhere directed. 

LOCIIIAL DISCHARGE. 

For about a month after confinement there is a discharge from 


598 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR . 


the uterus, gradually ceasing as the system regains its strength; 
a free daily action of the bowels is essential, so as to draw the 
drains of the system in that direction; the parts are strength¬ 
ened by a sitz bath of a quarter of an hour, two or. three 
times a day ; begin with water at ninety degrees, reducing it five 
degrees every fifth day, not going lower than sixty, remaining in 
the bath a less time as it is colder ; employ vaginal injections of 
cold water three times a day. If the lochials are profuse, trace¬ 
able to sitting up too soon after confinement, to hot rooms, men¬ 
tal emotions, or errors in eating, they should be rectified under 
whatever treatment; in addition, Homoeopaths give Crocus if there 
is dark-colored blood, Bryonia if the blood is red, with internal 
burning pains. Nux Vomica should be given if there is chill, 
pain in small of back, and fruitless efforts at stool. Those of 
full habit and protracted discharges or troublesome itching 
should take Calcarea. If pure blood comes with the loehial 
after every nursing, give Silicea. If the discharge is suppressed, 
give Pulsatilla. If from shocks, Acontum is proper; Opium, 
if there are convulsions. Dulcamara, if suppressed by cold; 
Belladonna, if face is red; and Colocynth, if there is colic and 
flatulence. 

If offensive and thin discharges, exhibit Belladonna and 
Carbo V. in twelve hours after the third dose of Belladonna, 
and Creosote after the third dose of Carbo. 

The Allopathic Treatment, until a physician can be had, is to 
keep the bbwels free by enemas or small doses of castor-oil or 
salts, a light and nutritious diet, doing everything to soothe and 
quiet. 

THE NIPPLES • 

occasionally give discomfort for weeks or months before con¬ 
finement. In fact, soon after pregnancy, within a month, the 
breasts begin to full up, there are stinging pains, the nipples 
become more prominent, and sometimes sensitive, the colored 
circle broadens and becomes darker. If there is heat or pain 
or sensitiveness, they may be held in a bowl of cold water five 
or ten minutes at a time several times a day, and in the intervals 
wet compresses may be kept on them, frequently renewed so as 
to keep the surface of the skin moist, and this, by evaporation, 
carries off the extra heat of fever and inflammation; at the same 


THE NIPPLES. 


509 


time be sure to keep tlie bowels free, and live largely on a fruit 
and coarse bread diet; with meat at dinner only, and that 
should be lean beef, mutton, or poultry, or fish. 

There should be no compression about the breasts, not the 
very slightest; the clothing should hang from the shoulders; 
neglect of this has in thousands of instances laid the foundation 
for gathered breasts and cancers of the most dreadful character 
twenty years later. Words cannot express adequately the im¬ 
portance of causing every article of clothing about the body to 
hang from the shoulders on the very first intimation of preg¬ 
nancy. 

. SORE NIPPLES 

may be warded off in almost every case by a little wise care. 
Bathe them freely in-cold water twice a day during the whole 
time of pregnancy, leaning over a bowl or basin for five or ten 
minutes, until there is a sense of relief from fever or other uncom¬ 
fortableness; at the same time rub them patiently between the fin¬ 
ger and the thumb after each bathing,and even between times; this 
helps to bring them out so that the infant can take hold of them; 
it should especially be done if they are inclined to lay flat on the 
breasts, as is sometimes the case. This operation also toughens 
and hardens the skin in a natural way; if astringents are used— 
oak-bark, alum, or tannin—the skin is contracted more, when the 
very object should be to soften and distend it; this is dohe by 
rolling the nipple between the thumb and finger, as above 
directed ; nothing is so good as this to draw out the nipple from 
the breast; it is a much safer way than to use a breast-pump or 
other artificial drawing or suction by another, for these have 
been known to cause premature delivery. 

If the nipple is actually sore or excoriated or fissured, put a 
grain of sulphate of zinc or half a teaspoonful of powdered alum 
in two tablespoons of water in a vial with a mouth large enough 
to receive a nipple, and apply it to the nipple by tilting up the 
bottle for five minutes at a time. If the nipple is tender and 
smooth, apply a borax mixture in the same way, three times a 
day; put fifteen grains of borax, six grains of tannin, and an 
ounce each of brandy and water; sometimes a level teaspoonful 
of powdered alum and two tablespoons of water will answer the 
purpose. 


600 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


After the child is born, there is a sensitiveness about the 
nipples causing the mother to have a fear of nursing the baby; 
hence, she puts it off, allowing the breasts to become too full, 
inviting fever and inflammation, and thus increasing the tender¬ 
ness of the nipple itself; and yet it cannot be let alone, and the 
child must be fed, each feeding aggravating the trouble; hence 
the great importance of taking means at an early stage of preg¬ 
nancy to ward off the trouble; such means as have been already 
detailed are generally efficient. Nipple shields are of some 
benefit. After each nursing, wash the nipples freely with a 
level teaspoon of borax in two tablespoons each of glycerine and 
rain or rose water. If the fissures are deep, take a fine, small 
brush, dip it in nitrate of silver, three or four grains to the 
ounce, or strong enough to cause a little smarting; do this twice 
a day after nursing, and a cure usually results. If one thing 
does not answer, try another. If the bowels are kept acting 
every day, twice, the nipples will get w T ell much sooner, especially 
if a fruit diet is adhered to. But the cure is sometimes so 
tedious, and the mother suffers so much, that additional remedies 
are here given: borax, .one dram; water, three and a half 
ounces; spirit of wine (alcohol or other spirits), half an ounce; 
mix well, and use after each nursing, and shield the teaf by an 
artificial one,-or make a liniment of equal parts of oil of 
poppies and lime-water ; mix, and apply as an ointment fre¬ 
quently. 

Another. Three and a half parts of empyreumatic oil of 
juniper; oil of almonds, three parts; glycerine, three parts ; mix it 
well and apply it every time the child has nursed, with a camel’s- 
hair brush. It hurts a little at first, but the sore is healed in a 
few days. Take care that the nipple shall not stick to the cloth¬ 
ing ; protect it with a fresh green leaf or piece of oiled silk. 

But it will generally be found that the application of nitrate 
of silver, with a camelVhair brush, drawn through the cracks, 
although it smarts some, is the quickest and best cure ; avoid 
touching the healthy skin, as it blackens it, but does no injury. 
But in all cases the cure is greatly expedited by having a shield 
made of wood, ivory, or silver, neatly covered with a prepared or 
artificial cow’s teat; but the teat should extend but little over 
half an inch beyond the ivory piece, for then it gets between the 
child’s teeth or gums and interferes with its nursing. 


CHILDREN'S TEETHING. 


601 


TEETHING. 

In six or eight months the teeth begin to cut the gum, if the 
child is vigorous and healthy ; if feeble, puny, or rickety, they do 
not appear for a year and a half. The two middle front teeth 
come first, and the-other two in a mouth or six weeks; next, two 
side teeth, above and below. In about a year the first double 
teeth appear; the eighteenth month, the eye-teeth. In two years 
and a half the whole twenty have appeared. These remain until 
about the sixth or seventh year, when they begin to fall out and 
make room for the permanent ones. 

Teething is a natural process, and- ought not to be attended 
with discomfort or sickness: but owing to faultv habits of life: a 
great variety of symptoms and sufferings make their appearance 
during dentition. This would not be the case if children were 
properly fed, clothed, and watched over, for they have only to 
be kept clean, have plenty of out-door air, be regularly fed, have 
abundant sleep, and regular bowels, about two passages every 
day ; this last should be had by enemas, or by syrup of senna 
or syrup of rhubarb ; fever and irritation and general restlessness 
can be kept down by tepid baths. Sometimes the bowels are 
loose; this should be controlled by the diet, using boiled milk, 
and enemas with a few drops of laudanum. 

The gums should never be lanced; or if at all, the cases are 
rare, and should be done only when a physician advises it, and 
the operation should be performed by him ; if this is not possible, 
take a lancet or common penknife, very sharp, and carry it down 
to the tooth; to be sure that this is done, grate it on the tooth 
below; but if the bowels are kept sufficiently free, and the 
child is fed regularly and not too much or too often, lancing the 
gums will not be necessary, and in order to avoid any possible 
necessity, the mother should be watchful during the whole time 
of teething, against costiveness : let her see to it that the bowels 
are kept acting, at least twice in every twenty-four hours. 

Another thing should be as imperatively avoided : never give 
an infant, for any ailment whatever, any anodyne, any prepara¬ 
tion of hops or lupine, or morphia, opium, laudanum, paregoric, or 
anything else, the constituents of which are unknown. What¬ 
ever is sold under the name or pretence of being a soothing 


602 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


syrup for children, is a murderous preparation, and the parent 
who administers it, whatever may be the intention, endangers the 
life of the child. Whatever parents give these things for any 
ailment, on their own responsibility, should make a note of it, 
that if afterwards the child has died of 

Convulsions, 

Inflammation of the Brain, 

Water on the Brain, or 

“ Fits,” 

it is justly chargeable to the medicines given, which were named 
above. 

Whatever diarrhoea is present during teething is a safety- 
valve, and should by no means be interfered with, in any way, un¬ 
less the child seems to be falling away, getting weak, losing its ap¬ 
petite, or has nausea and blue finger-nails, and other indications 
of a feeble vitality. A third thing in connection with teething 
which should never be done except in the severest cases, and 
that by the direction of the physician, is the extraction of a tooth 
to make way for another under it. Nature has her own modes 
of doing things, and they should never be interfered with, unless 
there is an imperative need; her plan is to push them upwards 
and outwards by the undergrowing tooth, which by its constant 
pressure occasions a gradual disruption of the greater part of the 
tooth. No intelligent dentist of skill, experience, and observa¬ 
tion will advise the extraction of a first tooth, and very rarely of 
young persons, for the inevitable effect is the contraction of the 
jaw ; it is the well-developed jaw which indicates firmness of 
character, which gives expression to the face, and to do anything 
to operate against its development, is always unnatural and al¬ 
ways unwise. By such interference one jaw becomes smaller 
than the other, and thus alters the whole contour ’and expression 
of the face, and always for the worse, never for the better, un¬ 
less it may be for the better appearance of the teeth. These prem¬ 
ature removals sometimes seriously impair the utterance or vo¬ 
calization, make the voice and accent and tone unnatural. If a 
tooth is in an actual state of decay before the jaw is fully de¬ 
veloped, it should be removed, but it is a misfortune, for all that. 


WET NURSES. 


603 


NURSING INFANTS. 

Nature and reason point out tlie duty to the mother of nurs¬ 
ing her own child, and nothing can ever compensate for the loss 
of it. There is an intercommunion of soul with soul, between 
the mother and her babe, which has a bliss in it for both, as it 
draws its sustenance from her bosom and looks up into her eye 
so lovingly, so confidingly, and at the same time sees in the ex¬ 
pression of her countenance an affection and a tenderness which 
carry away in its own little heart a very heaven of sweetness. 
The mother alone can have that instinctive gentleness and ten¬ 
derness of look,- and handling, and telegraphic communication 
from eye to eye which are so necessary to complete calmness, 
quietness, repose, and happiness of mind, and which are essen¬ 
tial to a healthful feeding and a good digestion. While nurs- 
ing, an angry look, a frown, a harsh word, a sudden jerk of body 
or change of position, is tenfold more injurious to an infant than 
to a grown person ; and yet all know what a shock it is to the 
feelings, how it discomposes the whole nature, how it utterly de¬ 
stroys appetite, to be enraged or shocked or scared in the midst 
of a meal, or soon after; but the tender nature of the infant 
must suffer more ; infants are often thrown into convulsions 
by such things, and nothing short of a mother’s love can be in¬ 
cessantly on guard against them; hence to commit the nursing 
to a stranger is, under the most favorable circumstances, even if 
it be an unavoidable necessity, a violation of the natural rights 
of the infant, and is a Remorseless outrage upon its just claims. 
The mother who could willingly avoid nursing her own child, 
short of a necessity, is unworthy of a child, is unworthy the 
name of mother. In another place directions are given for the 
regular nursing of infants and feeding of children when the mo- 
tlier is in good health. But when she cannot nurse it with im¬ 
punity, it will be indicated by some discomfort, by pains between 
the shoulders, and aversion to nursing amounting sometimes to a 
repugnance ; there is a distressing and very general debility per¬ 
vading the whole system, she is tired in the morning, she is tired 
at night, tired all over, and tired all the time; all the time more 
dead than alive ; but long before this the infant should be turned 
over to be fed by other hands either wholly or in part. 


604 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


If there is any milk, it should be suckled once a day, then fed 
artificially for the remainder of the twenty-four hours, and with¬ 
in a week or ten days it should be taken from the breast alto¬ 
gether. 

If the mother is pregnant again, nursing endangers abortion ; 
she cannot feed two besides herself. One stomach cannot do the 
work necessary for three persons. Therefore, when the catamenia 
return, immediate measures should be taken to wean the child, 
for the next thing is an impregnation. Besides, the drain of the 
catamenia is quite enough without that from giving milk at 
the same time ; the mother would soon grow thin, and pale, and 
weak. 

Under such circumstances, injustice is done the child, because 
its constitution will soon become impaired necessarily, from the 
fact that it cannot get enough nourishment, and what it does get 
is not pure and health-giving ; it is weak, watery, sickly. 

The best time for weaning is about May and October; mid¬ 
summer is dangerous, in proportion as the weather is warm, for a 
change of food is apt to induce indigestion and sourness; then 
follow loose bowels, summer complaint, and all its attendant 
ills and dangers. 

Mid-winter is unpropitious, because the long nights make arti¬ 
ficial feeding really dangerous, from having to get up in the cold, 
and for other reasons. 


PREPARING TO WEAN. 

It is best for mother and child to begin to wean in the day¬ 
time; first give the breast in the morning on waking up, then at 
noon, then at bedtime. In five days, omit the noon nursing; 
if the child will not take artificial food, make it wait until its 
hunger compels it. In five days more, omit the morning 
nursing; if this makes the child fretful, it need not interfere 
with the mother’s sleep; in ten days more omit the bedtime 
nursing; if convenient, let the mother or child be in different 
and distant parts of the house, so that her sleep need not be inter¬ 
fered with, nor her presence encourage the child to stubbornness ; 
besides, if the child cannot see the mother, it is not half as diffi¬ 
cult for it to give up the nursing. 

The advantage of this method is, the secretion of milk dries 


WET NURSES. 


G05 


away by degrees; but by all means keep up at least one full, free 
action of the bowels every day, from the very first hour the 
weaning process commences, for it is always dangerous to stop 
one drain of the system unless another drain is kept free, a little 
freer than before ; this gives time for the adaptation of things. 
Another precaution: do not eat as much; take meat but once a 
day, until the weaning is completed, and use fruits and berries 
more abundantly; and if these things do not avail to keep the 
bowels free, take salts, oil, or a dinner pill, or an injection. 


FEEDING INFANTS. 


If the breast has to be given up, a substitute must be provided, 
with the understanding that when a child is old enough to be 
weaned, it is old enough to be made to feed but four times be¬ 
tween daylight and bedtime, the intervals never being less than 
four full hours ; it is too frecpient and irregular feeding that 
kills half the infants who die before two years of age. If when 
the child is born the mother is healthy and strong, the infant 
may be put to the breast for the first time in three or four hours. 
If the mother is feeble, she should defer the first nursing until 
next day. If in either case the milk does not come at first, the 
infant can make trials from time to time, and this tends to invite 
the flow of milk. Meanwhile, give the child a teaspoonful of 
sweetened warm water once or twice in the course of an hour or 
two; after that, feed witli water a little sweetened, three parts, 
and milk one part, warmed; do not put a whole teaspoonful to 
the mouth at-once, fifteen or twenty drops at a time, with inter¬ 
vals of a quarter or half a minute, interesting the little thing 
meanwhile, if possible, the object being to introduce the food 
very slowly at first, for the stomach the first day is not large 
enough to hold over an ounce or two or three, at once ; in a day 
or two, more may be fed at a time, but always very slowly 
indeed, so that the stomach may not be-over-full before we know 
it, for then wind is generated from the souring of the milk, and 
colic follows with the crying and distress consequent. There is 
no such tiling as colic, caused by sucking in wind; it is always 
brought on by a cold, by eating too much, too often, or too fast; 
this should be set down as an incontrovertible fact. There are 


nALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


GO 6 

/ 

various devices for imitating the mother’s teat; each must decide 
according to the circumstances of the case. As to 

WET NURSES, 

nothing can be said satisfactory or definite, but the difficulties in 
the way are so great and so numerous, that it would be best to 
lay down a rule seldom if ever to be deviated from: never get a 
woman to feed .your baby as long as there is a cow to be had 
within fifty miles. For the first ten days take the milk from a 
good healthy cow in the proportion named, and gradually increase 
the amount of milk so as to make it more substantial. 

If the bowels become torpid, use a little brown sugar or mo¬ 
lasses, but only a day or. two at a time; gruel answers a good 
purpose for a change, a tablespoonful of graham flour, stirred 
well into three or four tablespoons of cold water; then stir it 
in a pint of boiling water; boil at least twenty minutes, stir¬ 
ring it well all the time to keep it from burning and to cook it 
regularly, add a pint of warm milk; if there is diarrhoea, boil 
the milk. The diet should be changed from time to time to 
farina gruel or oatmeal gruel, or other preparations known 
by experience to be good for the purpose in that part of the 
country. But do not change the diet, if the child seems to be 
doing well; only when it appears to be getting tired of it, as 
too great a variety is injurious ; and never forget at any time for a 
single day that regularity is essential to the comfort and health 
and well-being of the infant, feeding it at the same intervals day 
after day, and at no other time. If the infant seems to be fret¬ 
ful for something to eat between times, amuse it by giving it a 
little warm water out of a spoon; sometimes cold water may be 
given it in the same way; that is best for it which it seems to 
relish best; the.point is to divert it until the feeding time comes. 
Watch carefully against loose bowels in artificial feeding; it may 
be regulated generally by the use of arrow-root, corn-starcli, or 
crackers powdered finely-and put into boiled milk. If the loose¬ 
ness seems to be weakening the babe, then give it some well-made 
soup or gruel or beef tea; if the stomach retains nothing, use 
enemas containing some nutriment, as gruels, beef-tea, and the 
like. It is best to teach the infant to take its food by sucking, 
because it is then introduced into the stomach gradually and 


WEANING INFANTS. 


607 


regularly. At the end of the third month, a little chicken or 
veal broth or beef-tea thickened with oatmeal may be added to 
the milk diet; make the addition gradually, varying it with 
oatmeal, sago, or arrow-root, changing from time to time as the 
oatmeal may purge; if it does, it may be used to advantage 
when the bowels are confined. It is prepared by stirring two ta¬ 
blespoonfuls of oatmeal in a pint of cold water, let it stand ten 
minutes, pour off the liquid, which is to be boiled to a thin jelly. 
All food for the first six months should he thin, and sweetened 
only a little. After the front teeth are all cut, give more solid 
food, as rice puddings and the like, as children do best who have 
but very little animal food during childhood; it certainly is not a 
necessity for the first three years. When the first teeth are cut, 
soft-boiled eggs, calf’s-foot jelly, and fresh milk with water are 
admirable, for one meal in the day. After the sixth month, four 
feedings during the twenty-four hours are abundant, the first one 
earlv in the morning, the last one about bedtime. 

WEANING INFANTS. 

It was stated that when the choice can be had, May and October 
are the best months for weaning. It should not be done suddenly; 
when all parties are in health, preparation should be made for it 
at the seventh month, by giving artificial food at one of the 
nursings; then in the course of two weeks, twice; then feed it 
from the breast only twice in twenty-four hours, night and morn¬ 
ing, as already suggested. But these processes should be carried 
out regularly, steadily, firmly, without wavering, so that by the 
tenth month it shall cease to take food from its mother’s bosom 
altogether. Never go back for an instant after once commencing 
to wean. Let the child cry ever so much, let it keep on crying until 
it is so tired that it falls to sleep, but don’t give it the breast; it 
will scarcely ever repeat the crying over, three times. It is not a 
favorable time to wean while cutting one or more front teeth, nor 
while the child is sick ; the best time is when it is in good health; 
the best mode is regularity and firmness. After a few of the 
teeth are cut, the child may be allowed to suck fresh roasted beef 
or boiled potatoes; butter and gravies should not be allowed until 
the double teeth are cut, nor cakes or pastry of any kind. 

If in this process of weaning the milk does not dry up readily, 


608 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


the bowels should be kept acting once or twice a day, averaging 
three times in two days, by means of a fruit diet; if this does 
not answer, use castor-oil, epsom salts, or enemas, but, by all or 
any means, have the bowels free. If the breasts are painful and 
not hot, use warm compresses, changing them every four or 
five minutes until relieved, even if it requires hours, and to be 
renewed as soon as any hurting begins to return. If there is 
heat or redness, use cold compresses in the same way, as often as 
needed. In the intervals, the parts may be freely rubbed with 
soap liniment, or laudanum ; if these things are well done, the 
milk will be removed in all cases, it being understood that the 
bowels are to be kept free. 

INFANTILE DISEASES 

are all cured, if the little sufferers are kept clean, have good 
air, are dressed loosel} T , fed regularly, and have the bowels kept 
free, twice a day at least, by enemas; medicines may be given 
for that purpose, castor-oil, a little epsom salts, but they are not 
advised until the other measures have failed. If the bowels are 
costive, the enemas should be at ninety-eight degrees, injected 
gently, slowly, and to cease the instant the little one begins to 
strain; the same injections are good for straining and griping; 
if the bowels are too loose, never give a drug; a little boiled 
milk with its food is better ; or let it sit in a bath of ninety de¬ 
grees, the skin of the back and bowels being rubbed with the 
hands all the time; this diverts the blood to the surface and 
gives delightful relief; if not, an enema of ten drops of lauda¬ 
num in a tablespoonful of warm starch-water, and instantly press 
a warm napkin against the bowels for ten or fifteen minutes, 
strongly, so as to keep the injection in. At the same time, keep 
the child in the open air as much as possible in the arms of the 
mother or nurse, because the slightest cold or jar is very injurious ; 
and by all means, it is a necessity to keep it abundantly warm, 
for every instant, for a single chilliness or crawl will strike the 
blood in and increase the looseness. This is one reason why the 
summer complaint Is often so difficult to manage: the child is not 
kept warm enough about its body; cool, pure air to breathe for 
the lungs, and abundant -warm clothing for the body. 

If anr~motlier wishes to be the muVderer of her child, give it 

d j o 


DISEASES OF CHILDREN. 


609 


something to take into the stomach to stop the looseness, some 
soothing-syrup; even though it may have the commendations of 
every president and every clergyman ever born since the Declara¬ 
tion of Independence. Soothing-syrups are but another name 
for death by convulsions in a few days, or water on the brain, or 
other form of sudden arrest of all the powers of life. 

DISEASES OF CHILDREN. 

Many a child lias died in consequence of the mother’s vanity, 
beginning sometimes before it is two days old ; waking it up out 
of its sleep to gratify some idle caller; often a mere complimentary 
call, and not for any real desire to see the baby. Abundant sleep 
is one of the first necessities of infant life ; to be waked up out 
of a good sleep discomposes the gravest of grown persons, and 
makes many uncomfortable the remainder of the day; much 
more an infant. Not Ion or afterwards there is another vanity ex- 
hibiting itself: to show off the baby in fine dress; and when it is 
taken into account how much pulling and hauling and twisting 
and turning it takes to dress a baby, it is easy to see how tire¬ 
some it must be to its tender frame to have to undergo it all, for 
full dress, to be repeated perhaps several times a day ; with this 
full dress there are various bindings and pinnings and tyings 
and buttonin^s, all of them interfering with the circulation at a 
time so early that the slightest obstructions are liable to be fol¬ 
lowed by serious, permanent, and even fatal results, besides the 
liability to take colds, with all their attendant discomforts. 

In the very beginning of child-life, it will be of immense im¬ 
portance to its future well-being for the mother to ascertain the 
predominant temperament of the child: whether it is excitable 
or dull; that is, nervous or phlegmatic ; if the former, then it 
should be the habitual effort of the mother to curb that excite¬ 
ment, to avoid what tends to increase it, for that helps to bring 
on nervous diseases, affections of the brain, and various forms of 
fits and convulsions; hence, cultivate quietude, encourage sleep, 
abundant sleep, avoid as much as possible boisterous conduct of 
the other children, all sudden noises or shocks, everything, in 
fact, which tends to excite. 

If the phlegmatic temperament abounds’ if the infant is 
sleepy or stupid or inattentive, then it is well to pursue an op- 
39 ’ • 


610 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


posite course, and encourage everything that is lively, animating ; 
everything calculated to wake up into life and activity and joy¬ 
ousness ; with such treatment the dullest children sometimes 
grow up to be the lights of the world. When a child, 

SIR ISAAC NEWTON 

was so frail and foolish that he was regarded as a dunce, w r as the 
butt of the school, and was imposed upon by the boys of a 
larger growth. One day an overgrown fellow insulted him and 
kicked him in the stomach ; this aroused his whole nature; it 
waked him up to a determination to application which would 
place him ahead of his tormentor, lie accomplished his pur¬ 
pose, and not only reached the head of his class in a country 
school, but stands in the very front ranks of all created men. 
This shows that mothers may do much towards bringing out the 
intellects of their dull children, by studying their temperaments 
from the week of their birth. 

TEETHING 

is a natural operation, and would go on healthfully and safely in 
all cases, if the mother and child lived naturally; but under 
present habits, it is accompanied with more or less irritation and 
inflammation. The great points to be aimed at are, to keep the 
bow r els free, to keep the feet warm, so as to draw the blood from 
the head ; this may be aided by noticing whenever the head is 
hot; then put on a linen cap and keep it wet, or lay wet com¬ 
presses of cold water on the head, renewed every five minutes, 
or even less, until the head is cooled off; in addition, let the child 
sit in a warm bath of ninety degrees five or ten minutes at a 
time twice a day; this also draws blood to the surface and 
away from the head, and to that extent tends to prevent inflam¬ 
mation of the brain and convulsions. When there is considera¬ 
ble twitching of the muscles, or convulsive jerkings of the limbs, 
the irritation is very decided, and more active measures should 
be taken ; for whether it arises from colic, or irritation, a more 
general warm bath should be taken than sitting in the water, 
preceded - by an enema of w T arm -water they are always safe, 
always applicable, and have sometimes a marvellous power, by 


NUMSING INFANTS. 


611 




the relaxing influence of the warm water, internal and external, 
in removing spasms, and cooling and calming the whole system, 
body and mind. But in all cases of warm bath, it is important 
to have cold water compresses on the top of the head all the 
time ; and it is also of special importance that food at such 
times be given regularly, slowly and warm; for a single mouth¬ 
ful of food, especially if hard, may induce spasms, convulsions, 
and fits. 

It must be recollected, hence it is here distinctly repeated, that 
in all diseases of infancy and childhood certain things are always 
applicable, always safe, always beneficial, always efficient, always 
necessary, to wit: 

Keep the bowels open; 

Keep the extremities especially warm; 

Have an abundant supply of fresh air. 

Keep the skin clean, with abundant frictions of the hand be¬ 
sides. These directions are of special importance, and are often • 
all that is needed in bad colds, serious coughs, and even croup 
and diphtheria. In these latter cases, especially where the breath¬ 
ing is at all labored, a linen cloth of three or four thicknesses, 
large enough to cover the whole chest, should be dipped in warm 
water; that is always safer-and less liable to shock ; lay it over 
the chest with a dry cotton or woollen cloth of two thicknesses, 
and a little larger every way, laid over the wet one so as to keep 
the steam in and the pores of the skin open and soft; as often as 
they become dry, especially in the night, wet and renew ; if 
there is trouble in the throat make a similar application as high 
up the neck as possible. The object of these applications should 
be fully understood : it is to keep the skin warm, to draw the 
blood from the interior to the surface, thus relieving the more 
critical parts and affording an exit from the body of those hu¬ 
mors, as they are called, which do so much to afflict it. If there 
is a tight, dry cough, hot fomentations should be kept over the 
whole chest and throat all the time, until.there is perfect relief, 
ascertained by the increasing looseness of the phlegm. The 
fomentations are flannels dipped in very hot water, wrung out 
and laid on the chest, thin linen intervening, so as to avoid burn¬ 
ing the tender skin of the child. 

If the skin is burning, while the feet are cold, then endeavor 
to draw the blood to the surface and extremities by a hot foot- 


612 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR 


bath, by plentiful frictions with the hand or dry flannel over the 
skin, so as to redden it; and if judiciously applied, a broad 
girdle of dry flannel over a wet cotton one around the body, 
would help to cool off the skin. 

If there are any swellings about the body, as in 

MUMPS, 

the same treatment is applicable as before named, and the 
swollen parts should have a plentiful application of hot fomenta¬ 
tions in the daytime, and wet bandages covered with dry flannel 
at night. 

The young mother should remember, that for all affections of 
the skin, of whatever name or in whatever part of the body, two 
things should always be avoided, for they often cause convulsions 
and death. These are: 

1. • Cold air or cold water to the skin. 

2. Applications calculated to drive in the appearance on the 
skin. 

On the other hand, it is always important, always applicable, 
and always curative to keep the skin clean and moist and soft 
and warm, with very free bowels ; the main agencies being warm 
water to the skin, and warm enemas to the bowels, if at all con¬ 
fined. 

Considering that it is difficult to get children, and especially 
infants, to take medicine, parents are advised to make themselves 
familiar with the principles and practice above referred to, for 
they are applicable, especially applicable, to all the ailments of 
children; to all affections of the skin, whether rashes or sores, 
boils, tetter, measles, anything and everything, they are not only 
applicable, but tliej^ are safer, better, and more efficient than 
medicines nine times out of ten. 

It must be remembered that in all forms of sickness in infancy 
and early childhood, it is necessary to keep up the strength; it 
is necessary to give good, nourishing food, plain, simple, well 
prepared, warm and cooling, such as gruels, mush, bread, milk, 
ripe fruits, and when the teeth appear, lean meats sometimes, 
Nourishment, warmth, cleanliness, good air, these are the great 
saviours of young children. 


N FUSING INFANTS,. 


613 


mother’s milk. 

When it is not sufficient for the wants of the child, it grows thin 
and weak; the circulation declines, the finger-nails turn blue, the 
ends of the fingers shrink or shrivel, whether the milk is poor in 
quality or scant in quantity. Much may be done under such cir¬ 
cumstances to enrich the milk, or make it more abundant; in 
either case, it is necessary, and it is sufficient to improve the general 
health of the mother; this will not be done by the tonic effect of 
medicines and stimulants, but by the vigorous digestion of nour¬ 
ishing food. The too prevalent custom of causing mothers to 
drink abundantly of beer, ale, porter, wines, and the like, as a 
means of increasing the quantity of milk, is full of error; if the 
quantity of milk is increased, there is no increase in its substance, 
in bulk, not in nutriment, but it is the increase of nutriment that 
is especially desired ; the mother is stimulated afterwards, and if 
during that stimulation the infant is nursed,, its susceptible sys¬ 
tem is stimulated, but it is not a whit more fed, while its nervous 
system is excited, and the foundation is laid for the love of liquor, 
to be, in after life, in twenty, forty years more, or longer, de¬ 
veloped into drivelling drunkenness, in sons and daughters. 
Twenty centuries ago these principles had become so obvious, 
that Plato, the greatest of Grecian philosophers, would not allow 
the newly married to drink wine, because it was believed that a 
child, begotten when the parent was under the influence of the 
stimulant, would have an injury done to the nervous system, 
which would have an evil bearing on its wdiole after life; much 
more then would this be the case if the mother took wine while 
she was nursing it, if she took wine while she was carrying it. 
The use which parents may make of stimulants at the time of im¬ 
pregnation, during gestation, and through nursing, is the hidden- 
cause of that large class of men and women who are said, in a 
kind of sympathetic pity, to have 

UNBALANCED^ MINDS. 

Persons of no character, no force of will, no vim ; without de¬ 
cision, neither sensible nor senseless, aiming at nothing, accom¬ 
plishing nothing, or at least failing in everything, and when they 
pass from the world 


614 


IIALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


THEY LEAVE NO SIGN, 

and all apparently is as if they had never existed; and many times 
even worse than all this, they not only lived without doing any¬ 
thing for anybody, but they had to be helped through the world 
by others, had to be fed and clothed and housed, and at last 
buried by the charity of those who had the force which they had 
not, and for want of which their life was 


'WORSE THAN A FAILURE. 

But the suggestions of Plato have been utilized within the last 
half century, and men of investigating power and of strength 
of mind have brought to light some of the most startling facts 
in this connection. In a report recently made to the Massachu¬ 
setts Legislature, it was officially stated that very nearly one-half 
of all the pauper idiots of the State were the children of parents, 
one or both of whom were drunken ; the father begat them in 
drunkenness, the mother carried them in the womb in drunken¬ 
ness, and fed them after birth with milk made of drunken ma¬ 
terial. And bearing in the same direction is the ascertained sta¬ 
tistical fact, that when drunken parents join temperance societies 
not only does their own health improve, not only is the physical 
condition of the children materially advanced, but they have bet¬ 
ter and brighter minds than those who were born while intem¬ 
perate habits were indulged. 

There is another important fact recently published in England, 
that where there was an insane tendency to burglary, to murder, 
and to arson, it was uniformly found that the parents were 
drunken. 

The children of the drunken need not inherit exactly and al¬ 
ways the same defects, moral and physical, of their parents, but 
combinations of the same, the result of a variety of elementary 
traits; just as in the face of a child sometimes we do not see the 
full features of either parent but a combination of the eye of 
one, the lip of the other. The child may not be a drunkard like 
the parent, but there will be some unfavorable oddity of charac¬ 
ter, or.temperament, or disposition ; or there will be some faulty 
mental characteristic or physical ailment, as hysterics, or neural¬ 
gia, or dyspepsia, or rheumatism. The house of correction, the 


NURSING INFANTS. 


615 


jail, the penitentiary, and the insane asylum are mainly peopled 
by the children of drunken parents ; not parents necessarily known 
to be drunkards, but who used liquor at the late dinner, the mid¬ 
night supper, occasionally, and occasionally drank wine, and took 
bitters and tincture tonics during gestation and for the first year 
of nursing. The author has already recorded a confirmatory case 
in, his 

HADJIS JOURNAL OF HEALTH. 

«► 

Most of the parties to whom reference in the narration was 
made he knew himself, attending the funeral and witnessing the 
burial of the victim. The narration was as follows: 

THE WEDDING-DAY. 

Two healthy persons, with trusting, loving hearts, having been 
united in marriage, immediate preparation should be made for 
housekeeping, following the beautiful instincts of the birds of 
the forest, whose greatest happiness seems to be in preparing a 
place in which they may nestle with their young. The very 
labor necessary may well be supposed to be one of love and de¬ 
light. 

For the young pair to enter a splendid mansion, completely 
and elegantly furnished by parental love the very day after mar¬ 
riage, does not afford the thousandth part of the pure, enduring, 
and healthful gratifications which attend those, seemingly less 
favored by fortune, whose home has to be selected with much 
previous calculation, and debating, and hesitancy ; where every 
article of furniture has to be talked over; its style and quality 
to be considered ; what amount of means can be afforded to pro¬ 
cure this, that, and the other housekeeping necessity; can the 
money be spared to obtain that elegant pattern of carpet ? would 
it not be better to take something less costly for a year or two ; 
then move that upstairs, and have the more elegant one for the 
parlor \ The very circumstance of having to stop for want of 
funds long before the furnishing is completed, when in a plain 
way, is not without its advantages, its springs of lovingness ; for 
these things bring the young husband and wife to counselling 
together; the wife’s native pride and fine taste, and the young 
man’s prudence, balancing against each other; his devotion urg- 


616 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


ing him to gratify the woman whose happiness is his highest aim, 
and his secret thought that a little more energy, a little more ap¬ 
plication, a little longer staying at his place of business, will 
enable him to make it up ; then the fear of debt; of being ham¬ 
pered ; of possible failure of this, that, or the other plan. On 
the other hand, the wife’s fear that he cannot afford it; that it 
may require him to work too hard ; and then comes the indefin¬ 
ite apprehension of sickness and suffering, and all to gratify her ; 
and she resolves to do without it. He insists that she ought to 
have it; and then they begin to skirmish and make their little 
feints and falsities, and practise their filmy infinitesimal pre¬ 
tensions, to the end that the woman eventually has her way in 
the first battle of married life ; she stoops to conquer; she gov¬ 
erns in the future by yielding now, resolving that she can do 
without the coveted article for the present; telling him that in 
a short time it may be better and more safely afforded. The 
young man straightway looks upon the blossom before, him 
with a greater devotion, a deeper, purer, warmer love, and re¬ 
solves in his own mind that she is worthy of .all the efforts he can 
make for her happiness, and that all the energies within him 
shall be exerted with a will to gratify every desire of 
her heart; and thus, before they know it, they have been 
wedded together in a closer, stronger bond than any clerical 
formula ever forged ; for in this they have learned to “ take 
counsel together,” to defer to each other’s views, and arguments, 
and wishes. Each has seen in the other a disposition to mutual 
sacrifices, and a habit of giving up one’s own will for the gratifi¬ 
cation of the other is begun, and one of the broadest stones for 
the foundation of domestic happiness is laid ; and then, the one 
who has given up is more than repaid b} 7 the conqueror, who 
feels within a purer life and a deeper emotion arising to go out 
in acts of lovingness which make both giver and receiver happier 
and better. 

Working thus together, playing into each other’s hands, striv¬ 
ing to accomplish any commendable object, which is to make both 
happier; which is to add to the common store ; making mutual 
sacrifices ; bringing constantly into play each other’s sympathies 
by labors, and efforts, and self-denials—these are things which 
bind young hearts together, and build up between them an affec- 


NUBSING INFANTS. 617 

tion, a love, a devotion, which passing years hut purify and con¬ 
solidate and sweeten until life’s close. 

This mode of beginning married life has other advantages. It 
gives opportunity for the exercise of hospitalities towards friends. 
This stimulates to greater industries ; to tidiness in housekeep¬ 
ing; to neatness of attire; to the practice of little economies; 
to the exhibition of courtesies ; and to those little “ praisings 
up ” to guests, which will involuntarily escape from the lips of 
the new housekeepers, and which very things deepen attach¬ 
ments, fan anew the flame of love, and become another spring of 
domestic beatitudes. 

Another high advantage is, housekeeping keeps the young 
wife’s mind bus} 7 —a very important consideration. She is not 
only busy thinking, but it is a thinking on practical matters, on 
things necessary to be done promptly, yet with deliberation and 
judgment. Thus the powers of the mind are evolved, responsi¬ 
bility is exercised, executive ability is brought into requisition, 
self-reliance is cultivated, because the husband is not at hand . 
to be consulted; and when he comes home and finds she has 
acted with judgment, with prudence, with wisdom, he shows his 
appreciation of it by his cordial and affectionate commendations, 
and the light breaks in upon her for the first time that she is not 
a doll, a plaything, a baby or a child, but that she has capabili¬ 
ties. Then she feels stronger ; there is a consciousness that she 
can be a help in the family ; that she is worth something; that 
while she is a recipient, she can be an aid. The husband, seeing 
this practical exhibition of her capacities, is gradually led to ask 
her advice, to talk with her about his own business matters, for 
the sake of possible advantages to be derived from her sugges¬ 
tions. Thus one leans on the other ; they look up to each other; 
mutual and additional confidences arise, and it is not long before 
they find that, between the household affairs of the wife, in 
which she sometimes wants her husband’s counsel, and the more 
important business matters of the husband, about which he is 
quite willing to listen to her suggestions and hints, they have 
plenty to talk about. There is no sitting in the room for half an 
hour at a time, without the exchange of a single word ; there is 
no silent smoking of a cigar for a great part of the evening ; no 
poring over a novel by the hour; no burying the nose in a news¬ 
paper, until every column has been read, advertisements and all ; 


618 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


no sudden jumping up from a chair to take a solitary walk ; to 
visit a friend; to meet a business appointment, the wife left 
alone all the while to brood over the mishaps, the annoyances, 
the disappointments of the day. On the contrary, each has sub¬ 
jects of inquiry; each has points of information to communicate, 
and a mutual interest in each other’s respective departments 
springs up, which still further tightens the marriage bond. 
Each hour and each day is filled with its own duties, and respon¬ 
sibilities, and satisfactions, and there is domestic happiness, more 
thoroughly cemented every day and every hour, giving the 
promise of a deeper and a purer enjoyment in the future. A 
writer in the New York “ Ledger ” says under the head of 

life’s brightest hour. 

Not long since I met a gentleman who is assessed for more 
than half a million. Silver was in his hair, care upon his brow, 
and he stooped beneath his burden of wealth. We were speak¬ 
ing of that period of life when we had realized the most perfect 
enjoyment,-or, rather, when we had found the happiness nearest 
to the unalloyed. “ I’ll tell you,” said the millionnaire, “ when 
was the happiest hour of my life. At the age of one-and-twenty I 
had saved up $800. I was earning $500 a year, and my father 
did not take it from me, only requiring that I should pay for 
my board. At the age of twenty-two I had secured a pretty 
cottage just outside of the city. I was able to pay two-thirds of 
the value down, and also to furnish it respectably. I was 
married on Sunday—a Sunday in June, at my father’s house. 
My wife had come to me pool’ in purse, but rich in the wealth of 
her womanhood. The Sabbath and the Sabbath night we passed 
beneath my father’s roof, and on Monday morning I went to my 
work, leaving mother and sister to help in preparing my home. 
On Monday evening, when the labors of the day were done, I 
went not to the paternal shelters, as in the past, but to my own 
house—my own home. The holy atmosphere of that hour seems 
to surround me now in memory. I opened the door of my cot¬ 
tage and entered. I laid my hat upon the little stand in the 
hall, and passed on to the kitchen—our kitchen and dining-room 
were all one then. I pushed open the kitchen door and was—in 
heaven! The table was set against the wall—the evening meal 


NUBSING INFANTS. 


619 


was ready—prepared by the hands of her who had come 
to be my helpmeet in deed as well as in name—and by the 
table, with a throbbing, expectant look upon her lovely, loving 
face, stood my wife. I tried to speak, and could not. I could 
only clasp the waiting angel to my bosom, thus showing the 
ecstatic burden of my heart. The years had passed—long, long 
years—and worldly wealth has flowed in upon me, and I am 
honored and envied ; but—as true as heaven—I would give it 
all—every dollar—for the joy of the hour of that June evening 
in the long, long ago.” 

One of the great faults and dangers of the times, especially in 
cities, is the increasing custom of young married persons spend¬ 
ing the first months or years of married life in boarding-houses 
and hotels, or in the family of one of the parents. Trouble may 
be saved by this, the trouble of housekeeping; money may be 
saved by it; but it is at the expense of domestic comfort, of 
domestic happiness; more, it is risking the bringing about of 
domestic discord and domestic ruin; discord, because the young 
wife has nothing to do but to eat and dress, and sleep, and 
lounge about, lolling on sofas, gazing out of front windows ; 
frittering away the time in trifling conversation with callers as 
idle as herself; spending many hours in dreamy imaginings; in 
poring over worthless novels; making questionable acquaint¬ 
ances; at other times indulging in the vain ambitions which 
want of occupation and undesirable companionship engender; to 
say nothing of the bickerings, the suspicions, the envies, the jeal¬ 
ousies, the misunderstandings, and the thousand other sources 
of disquietude and discontent which are found under any roof 
which covers more than one family. 

Remembering that the prevailing condition of the mother’s 
mind during gestation will be impressed upon the child to be 
born, the highest appeal possible is made to parental justice, 
humanity, and love, to cultivate those feelings and affections and 
sentiments and thoughts which most ennoble our nature, by 
avoiding idleness during gestation ; by keeping the mind on the 
alert, as much as possible, in housekeeping and domestic duties ; 
in callings which keep the wife out of doors at least two or 
three hours every day, so that she shall be engaged in pleasurable 
activities to the extent of having the mind fully occupied, and 
the body engaged in doing something profitable, useful, pleasur- 


620 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


able, with absolutely not a moment’s leisure for nurturing dis¬ 
satisfactions, envyings, remorses,-hurt feelings, supposed slights 
or animosities of any description. But this is not half the duty; 
there is a positive obligation to engage in whatever may cherish 
and cultivate all the higher feelings of our nature—our magna- 
nimity, our benevolence, our loves. Contemplate nothing which 
is not agreeable, that does not wake up the better sentiments. 
Gaze by the hour upon paintings, upon sculpture, on the water¬ 
fall and the mountain-top, on landscapes of tree and fountain, 
of fields and flowers, of lake and river, of hill and valley, listen¬ 
ing to the songs of birds, to the music of the sweetest instru- 
ments, and that, nearer the divine, the human voice itself. 

In addition to these, give many thoughts to serious contem¬ 
plations, inward reflections, to yearnings for human ameliora¬ 
tions, the relief of the poor, and the elevation of all. 

The remarks made, and those to be made, are intended to be 
carried out in practice, not merely for the first, but for all subse¬ 
quent gestations, during which periods it is the husband’s highest 
duty, and without the performance of which, for every hour of 
every successive day he cannot be a man, to make his wife’s 
happiness his constant study; and in no way can he do this 
better than by a prompt gratification of every reasonable desire. 
Anticipate her probable wants ; do everything with a ready and 
cheerful alacrity ; be quick in sympathies ; plan pleasant sur¬ 
prises ; make coming home, when the business of the day is 
done, an event lovingly looked for; come home full of news; 
bring messages from friends; never come empty-handed; a 
bunch of grapes to-day ; a rare fruit to-morrow ; next day a pink, 
or rose, or little flower; anything to show, without telling it, 
that the wife at home has been lovingly thought of. But there 
is more to be done than all this. The pregnant wife, in every 
word and tone and look and gesture, should see that her hus¬ 
band’s heart is full of tenderness, that he lias the chivalry 
of a lover, and that his whole deportment towards her is manli¬ 
ness itself. By no possibility, whatever might be the provoca¬ 
tion, should an impatient look, or cross word, or angry replv ever 
escape him; and let every one see that the wife is considered 
the queen of the table, the mistress of the mansion. In these 
ways she will be kept occupied fully; will be kept hopeful, and 
will enjoy everything. She will also become self-respectful, 


NURSING INFANTS. 


621 


self-appreciating, self-asserting, fearing nothing, all the time full 
of implicit trustingness in her husband’s confidence and sympa¬ 
thies, pouring out upon him, in turn, the full measure of a 
woman’s love ; thus will the mother mould the character of her 
first-born in a cast which is noble, generous, and beautiful. 

WHEN EDUCATION BEGINS. 

It should begin a year before the child is born, before mar¬ 
riage, and if twenty years earlier, so much the better; for then 
the chances would be greater that the youthful pair would meet 
at the marriage altar in physical health, vigorous and permanent, 
with all the bodily functions matured, regular, and perfect. 

There should be no concealed malady, no burrowing disease, 
no ailments of even a month’s or day’s duration; should there 
be any sickness whatever, the marriage ceremony, or its consum¬ 
mation, should be deferred until the system has been restored to 
its natural healthy condition, because whatever may be its state, 
whether of body or brain, at the instant of efficient congress, 
that condition will be imposed on the child to be born there¬ 
from. 

Authentic cases are recorded where persons have been so en¬ 
raged, that within half an hour or less, the eyes and face have 
been diffused with a yellow tinge, showing that the entire blood 

of the svstem has been transformed; and as out of this blood 

*/ ' 

the materials for the new-being are drawn, it is a physiological 
impossibility that an impress should not be made on the physical 
and mental and moral constitution, foreign to nature and to 
health, precisely as has been ascertained, that a child begotten in 
a drunken stupor will be idiotic, or will be prone to brain 
diseases or actual insanity, if begotten when the parent was 
“excited with liquor,” having “taken a glass with a friend,” a 
very little thing indeed, in the estimation of some, but capable, 
under the combinations stated, of laying the foundations for 
untold miseries, the misery of a mad-house for a lifetime, to a 
human being capable otherwise of the highest human achieve¬ 
ments. 

If a transient sensation of the parent may give to a child the 
impress of that parent’s character, much more will feelings 
which have been indulged in for days and weeks and months 


622 


HALL'S FAMILY DO CTO JR. 


together, be incorporated into the very being, physical, mental, 
and moral, of the child born after them. 

If any intelligent pair, in any community, should become 
parents in the practical observance of the principles inculcated 
in these pages, their children would not die early, but would 
mature and fructify, and thus become living springs themselves, 
sending out healthful progenies far and near, until the whole 
land would be peopled with inhabitants healthy, happy, and 
good, because “Like produces like;” because the time is divinely 
decreed to come, when it shall no longer be said that “ The 
fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set 
on edge.” That good time can never come until the fathers 
cease to eat sour grapes; until they cease to be vicious, until 
they cease to riot in animal appetites and passions for the enjoy¬ 
ment of them, but shall gratify them in temperance, as a means 
of fulfilling the eternal design of replenishing the earth with the 
highest type of manhood. 

As an incentive to cultivate aspirations like these, there is the 
great truth that evil and disease are not eternal; they are 
destined to death; while goodness of heart and mental activity 
are immortal. The latter must “ increase,” while the former 
must “ decrease.” The tiny mustard-seed must grow and 
fructify, and give its cooling shade, indefinitely extending. The 
“ little stone cut out of the mountain without hands,” shall roll 
onward, increasing ever, until the world shall be brought be¬ 
neath it. The cloud, no bigger than a man’s hand, must cover 
the whole sky, and pour its living rain on all that grows. All 
evil is for a day; all good for unending ages. But while these 
considerations are written for our comfort and encouragement, 
it must not be forgotten that vice and disease are to be exter¬ 
minated, are to be hunted from the world, by the aggressive 
action of good men and women, an action which begins at the 
root of the matter, an action which removes the cause; then the 
effect ceases by its own limitation, ceases in the very nature of 
things. It cannot be that evil will in the end triumph. In 
plainer phrase, if the children to be begotten are born healthy 
in body, mind, and morals, their descendants, in turn, xvill be 
like them, while the evil race now living perishes from the 
world. Such results will not come of themselves; they must be 


HEREDITARY INFLUENCES. 


023 


wrought out like every other good; they come by planning 
beforehand, and then carrying the plans into execution. 

There must be a beginning somewhere; that beginning must 
be made in two human hearts, elevated, cultivated, conscientious. 
And infinite blessings must come for time and for aye upon that 
man and woman who, for the glory of God and the good of the 
race, shall set out to do all they can to make a beginning, to sow 
the first seed which will bear a fruitage so helpful to the world 
of mankind. 


HEREDITARY INFLUENCES. 

A single ear of red corn will sometimes be found in gathering 
the crop in the autumn, and if one grain of it be planted in the 
following spring, there will be other red ears. If the grains of 
all these be planted the next season, it will be a few years only 
before every grain of corn in the whole field will be red, like the 
original. By analogy, the same law prevails in living genera¬ 
tions, among insects and birds, and animals and man, for “ like 
begets like ” throughout the universe of living things. By this 
general law it follows that if in any community a healthy, intelli¬ 
gent pair should marry, and should in their Jives carry out the 
principles of healthful living laid down in these pages, they will 
have, children; their children will be healthy, intelligent, and 
prolific, like themselves, each one becoming a centre of popula¬ 
tion, the progenitor of others, until, in a time not remote, the 
whole land would be peopled with a stalwart race, possessing 
physical vigor, active minds, and elevated sentiments ; because 
in the nature of things, the healthy individuals among animals 
and men have ability to perpetuate themselveswhile the dis¬ 
eased, the weakly, the vicious, die out; for the Scriptures say, 
“ The wicked shall not live out half their days; ” and just as ex¬ 
plicit and positive is the announcement, “ The righteous shall go 
down to his grave like a shock of corn, fully ripe in his season.” 
Hence, the fundamental truth is founded on the eternal rock of 
Divine assertion, that goodness naturally spreads, perpetuates 
itself, has in itself the seeds of immortality; while vice and dis¬ 
ease have within themselves the seeds of death. Thus far as to 
the physical man ; and not less true is it of the spiritual nature; 
and on the same rock is the truth grounded, that covenant and 


624 


BALDS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


mercy would not only be kept towards the good man, but to his 
children also to thousands of “ generations ” after him, which 
means that good men not only transmit their qualities to their 
own immediate children, but to those born to them to remote 
ages in the future. And with such responsibilities, with such 
“ exceeding great and precious promises ” from the Infinite One, 
can any good man or woman, can any Christian pair, consistently 
beget children without any care, without any premeditation, 
without any arrangement of circumstances to give for good the 
first impress of physical, mental, and moral character ? And j T et, 
the very best men of all ages up to the present hour have habitu¬ 
ally committed acts of parentage without the very first thought, 
without the very slightest deed, intended to have any bearing 
' whatever on the character of the child, but everything has been 
left to the most perfect liap-liazard imaginable. Iso sermon 
has ever been preached, no book ever published, nor has any ever 
been written with the express object of enforcing a line of con¬ 
duct which w T ould give to those who come after us healthy bod¬ 
ies, good constitutions, and mental and moral qualities which 
would, in the highest sense, fit them for the duties of life. It is 
a historical fact that “ descent,” meaning thereby “ hereditary 
influence,” does more towards fashioning the physical constitu¬ 
tion and the moral character of man than all things else besides, 
external or internal. And there is scarcely another truth in the 
whole range of human observation which has gained such a uni¬ 
versal assent among thinking minds of past ages as that of the 
hereditary transmission of physical, mental, and moral qualities, 
and which at the same time has been so universally disregarded in 
practice, although it should be clear to every one that if a parent 
becomes addicted to any form of vice, is habitually vicious in 
any one thing, it cannot fail to leave a bad impress on the child’s 
constitution, and that diseased physical constitutions affect the 
will and the conscience and the moral nature in such a way as to 
impair their vigor and their legitimate, pure, and right action. 
If any change is to be made in these directions, it must be’ done 
by those who have loftier thoughts, higher heroisms, and more 
transcendent aspirations than have yet influenced mankind. Yet 
the'motives to. these higher things may be cherished, may be cul¬ 
tivated in the humblest hearts where true love to God resides, 


INHERITING DRUNKENNESS. 


625 


until the moaning dawns of a brighter and a better day. The 
following is an illustration of 

HEREDITARY INFLUENCE. 

Nearly a hundred years ago, a New York lawyer was travel¬ 
ling on horseback on Long Island, and coming to an inviting 
country inn, at the close of the day, he alighted for the purpose 
of spending the night, The family consisted of the father, 
mother, and daughter of eighteen, so retired in her manners, so 
comely in her person, and of a mind so cultivated and refined, 
that on leaving next morning the young man determined that he 
would repeat his visit before a great while, which he did. In due 
time they w r ere married, went to housekeeping in New York, and 
set about the business of life in real earnest. The young lawyer 
rose in his profession, made a name, lived happily, temperately, 
and long, dying at a good old age, leaving a large fortune to two 
surviving sons, one of whom died within easy memory of the 
New York Knickerbocker, a besotted, drivelling drunkard, leav 
ing two sons, both of whom 

“ TOOK TO DRINK ” 

9 

early, arid early died, childless. The other son of the lawyei 
married a beautiful and accomplished woman, himself a hand' 
some man, of refinement and culture, but lie fell into drinking 
habits, spent his own patrimony and a large share of his wife’s 
fortune. Ilis infirmity grew upon him to an extent which made 
it impossible for his wife to live with him longer, and taking her 
grown daughter with her, she left him, legally married again, 
and is now living happily with the second man of her choice, 
and another family of children growing up around her; all these 
things made such a profound impression on the mind of the for¬ 
saken father and husband, that he resolved he would never drink 
another drop of liquor again, and for twenty years has kept his 
resolution. 

Was this turning to drink on the part of the children and grand¬ 
children the result of enticements into bad* habits, or by inherit¬ 
ance ? The lawyer and his wife were strictly temperate in all 
their habits, and plain in their tastes and modes of living, but 
40 . • 


nALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


G26 

cultivated, hospitable, and refined. When the keeper of the 
Long Island country inn married, he was a well to-do young man, 
fond of his wife, and fond of his home ; but his occupation, 
particularly at that early day, led very naturally into habits of 
drinking; it was a common thing then to 

* 

“TREAT” 

friends to a drink of grog when they happened to drop in during 
the day, and when night came, the neighbors would come in to 
learn the news from the city, as gathered from passing travellers; 
and this easily degenerated into sipping toddy and brandy and 
water during the evening chat, which by degrees extended into 
the night; the landlord, it 'is reported, generally going to bed 
full of liquor, rousing the “ strong propensities ” of nature, which 
would not be quieted without the fullest gratification. Lender 
these influences a new being was made. But the leprosy of 
drunkenness did not break out in the first generation ; the habits, 
the cultivation, and the refinement of the innkeeper’s daughter 
were all antagonistic of what might foster the habit of drink, 
and so it skipped over a generation, the tinder being applied to 
the torch, to be kindled into flame under the greater susceptibili¬ 
ties of boyhood life and surroundings. It is precisely in this way 
that 

INSANITY 

overleaps a generation or two ; thus also it is that a child bears 
no resemblance to its father or mother, but is often'the exact re¬ 
semblance to the grandparents or great grandparents. Doubtless 
in innumerable cases, the foundation of drunkenness in persons 
yet unborn has been laid by parents retiring after the sumptuous 
dinner, or the evening party, one or both saturated with wine, or 
worse. Let the terrible truth impress itself on the thoughtful 
reader’s mind, that in a Massachusetts asylum for the care of 
idiotic children, three-fourths were born of parents one or both 
of whom were habitual drinkers of spirituous liquors. It is 
surely not necessary to state more clearly the inferences to be 
drawn from these observations, and yet men are so dull of com¬ 
prehension sometimes as to require the plainest teachings; still 
the lesson is of importance but little less than infinite; it sug- 


NURSING INFANTS. 


627 


gests the abeyance of perpetuative function when under alcoholic 
influence. The self-same lesson is powerfully taught in the facts 
recorded in standard medical works, showing that if a mother 
suckles her infant within half an hom’ of being: in an ungov- 
ernable rage, it will be immediately thrown into convulsions. 
The great broad fact then remains, that mental and physical con¬ 
stitutions, appetites, and propensities, and passions,' mould the 
physical condition of the infant nursed under their influences, 
fix the character of the being: begotten at the time of their 
prevalence. And under this most important practical principle, 
having such a controlling power in forming the characters and 
fixing the destinies of the unborn, as well as the babe, are ranged 
that large class of what are regarded as 

MYSTERIOUS CASES, 

where children are so totally different from their parents in their 
mental and moral characteristics. Nothing can so well account 
for the character of 

AARON BURR, 

the first-born and only son of father and mother, models of hum¬ 
ble piety, of Christian devotion, and of stern faith in Calvinistic 
doctrine. Yet, leaving that son, magnificent in his talents, but 
an infidel in religion, without moral principle, a roue , a traitor, 
and a murderer ; the father or mother, or both, when he was be¬ 
gotten, laboring under the depressing influences of doubt and 
unbelief or temporary rebellion against the Divine government, 
which sometimes prevail for a transient period in the experiences 
of the wisest and best of men ; for there were times in the lives 
of such as David and Knox and Chalmers and Cowper and New¬ 
ton when the sirocco of unbelief would sweep across their hearts, 
scorching up all that was 

GREEN AND GOODLY 

to look upon in their moral and religious feeling and sentiment, 
tempting the mind to express itself in the words of the fool 

u THERE IS NO GOD.” 

Not only are physical defects and diseased conditions and moral 
depravities transmitted from parents to their immediate descend- 


628 


HALL'S FA1LLLY DOCTOR. 


ants, but as seen in the narration of the facts just made, even 
proclivities are imparted which affect subsequent generations even 
to the fourth degree ; a principle recognized as far back as 
Moses ? time, for he was divinely instructed to write, fifteen cen¬ 
turies before the Advent, of “ visiting the iniquity of the 
fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of 
them that hate me,” Exodus xx. 5. Meaning merely that the 
example which sinning parents set to their children does not 
cease to have its evil effects for several generations. Eighteen 
hundred years ago, Plutarch wrote of his own times, drunk¬ 
ards beget drunkards. And it is now admitted that the tendency 
to gluttony and gaining, and libertinism and vicious tempers, and 
animal passion, is often inherited. A writer in a British periodi¬ 
cal states a fact coming under his own observation, where both 
parents died of drunkenness, and so did all the children. In 
another case both parents were drunkards, and the large family 
of children which they left, with one exception, died prematurely 
by drunkenness, suicide, or other violence. 

In’Norway all duty was taken off imported liquor for ten years; 
at the end of that time insanity had increased fifty per cent., 
and the number of children born idiotic had increased one hun¬ 
dred and fifty per cent. This is a most fearful fact, and should 
indelibly impress upon every intelligent mind - the extent to 
which a parent is responsible for the physical condition and 
moral character of the child, and that such condition depends, in 
the first place, on the physical and mental condition of the 
father at the moment of the impregnating act, and on the men¬ 
tal and moral and physical states of the mother during preg¬ 
nancy. 

M. Morel has recorded the history of a drunken father, extend¬ 
ing to four generations of descendants. 

First. The father was an habitual drunkard, and was killed 
in a public brawl. 

Second. The son followed the drunken habits of his father, be¬ 
came subject to attacks of mania, which terminated in paralysis 
and premature death. 

Third. The grandson was strictly temperate, was never drunk, 
but suffered with habitual depression of spirits, with imaginary 
fears of injury from others, and could scarcely restrain himself 
from.killing other people. 


WASHING THE BABY. 


629 


Fourth. The great-grandson had but little intellect, had an at¬ 
tack of insanity at the age of sixteen, ending in an idiotic condi-. 
tion, and with him the family became extinct. 

When we turn from these and contemplate the states of mind 
of the mothers of Samuel the prophet, of John the Baptist, and 
of our Lord, and the blessed results of having born to them chil¬ 
dren who became such exalted characters afterwards, we may 
have some faint idea of the honor and the responsibility put 
upon every mother in the arrangements of the Divine Ruler of 
the universe, making her but a little below the angels. 


Z02 


WASHING THE BABY. 

After delivery, lay the child on its right side, a short distance 
from the mother; cover it up well and warmly. Look at it now 
and then, to see if it breathes freely, and if the umbilical cord 
ceases to bleed at the end. As is elsewhere stated, rub a little oil 
all over the child, to soften the cohesions on the skin, with which 
it was born; then wash it with soap and water, not less than ninety 
degrees, using a soft sponge, to be rubbed hard enough to get off 
all the coating, especially all the places where the skin folds. 
After the umbilical cord detaches itself, there may be a little 
tenderness in the navel; lay over it a piece of soft linen, dipped 
in oil, and if necessary to stop any little bleeding, sprinkle finely 
powdered burnt alum on the place. After the washing and first 
dressing, give the child for its first swallow a teaspoonful of cold 
or tepid water. Notice particularly if the feet and hands are 
comfortably warm; if not, let each foot and each hand be held 
in some old, warm hand, even pressing a little; then rub the 
skin, and envelop with the hand again, to invite circulation and 
warmth. 

All soiled diapers should be instantly dropped in cold water, 
and then, as soon as convenient, removed from the room. 

Every time an infant is dressed or washed it should be held 
before the fire, if fire-time, or in the sun coming in at the 
window, and rubbed gently with the warm hands all over, espe¬ 
cially over the back and abdomen: this promotes the circulation, 




630 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


imparts warmth, and is otherwise beneficial, especially to the 
skin, as it allows .the air to come to it, and increases its softness 
and pliability. 

An infant naturally dreads having a wet cloth flapped on any 
part of the body; it is intensely disagreeable. On the other 
hand, if it has not been cheated by being put into water too hot 
or too cold, it will surely delight in paddling .in it;—for a min¬ 
ute or two or more, once every day, increasing the time as the 
child grows older, but never allow the water to be colder than 
seventy-five degrees, at least until it is two years old; and then 
not under sixty at any time. One such bath a day is enough, if 
a child is strong and vigorous; if weakly, twu or three times a 
week. Baths should be taken in the forenoon. For the first 
year the water should range from seventy to eighty degrees or 
over, according to the vigor of the child; but always avoid 
allowing the water to get cold enough to drill, or give a bluish 
appearance to the finger-nails. As a general rule, an infant 
should be washed night and morning for three months ; then, 
until the sixth month, once a day; and after that two or three 
times a week until four years old, always using tepid water ; but 
when entering the fourth year, cool water of the temperature 
of the air may be used in summer. In winter-time the water 
should not be colder than sixty degrees, and the room where 
the bathing is performed should be as warm as sixty-five or sev¬ 
enty, so that there should not be a feeling of coldness when the 
skin emerges from the water. 

After the fourth year the mother should give her special atten¬ 
tion to the personal cleanliness of her children. She should con¬ 
sider them under her own supervision, giving them repeated in¬ 
struction as to the importance of cleanliness, as associated with 
purity of mind and morals. Means should be used to inspire con¬ 
tempt for untidiness and filth and dirt in clothing or skin. And 
until a child has imbibed her own notions, and would feel misera¬ 
ble and degraded at the consciousness of having the slightest soil¬ 
ing of foot or finger or inner garment, no pains should be spared 
in judicious, kindly, and imperative teachings in this direction. 
Occasion should frequently be taken at bed-time, and in the morn¬ 
ings and while asleep, for personal inspection, so that the child 
may feel that any dereliction will certainly be discovered and 
punished. And washings and bathings should be required to be 


CRITICAL AGES. 


C31 


* 

done every day, if they are needed, to keep the feet, the toes, the 
armpits, and every part of the skin in neck and groin and else¬ 
where, as perfectly and as habitually clean as the face itself. As 
consciousness of dirt debases, so consciousness of perfect cleanli¬ 
ness elevates, refines, gives power and courage and self-assertion. 
It is scarcely possible to give too much attention to impressive 
lessons of the most special cleanliness of person and dress and 
habit upon all young minds, as it is rightly associated with godli¬ 
ness and every high trait of character; it is a safeguard against 
many a vice; it is an irresistible power against many a temptation. 

' • LIFERS PERIODS. 

Whether it be a mere whim or not, there is a general impression 
that there are certain periods or crises in human life at which 
great and important changes take place in the human economy 
for good or ill; these stations are about seven years apart; seven 
for teething, fourteen for the beginning of the change to manhood 
and womanhood. Twenty-one gives exemption to parental rule. 
•Seven years later usually finds a man a husband and father, and 
the head of a family. At thirty-five, in all the prime of manhood, 
the world opens in its fulness to the highest aims, to the loftiest 
ambitions, to the grandest achievements'. At forty-two, sobriety 
comes ; it is at that age the man is a fool or a physician as to 
himself; at that age, it is supposed that if he has not made a for¬ 
tune, or at least has not laid a solid and broad foundation for it, 
he will never secure one, and will be thriftless all his days. It is 
also said that if a man ever fails, it should be before he is forty, 
for then he may get on his feet again and will be careful enough 
not to hazard his means a second time. - But if forty finds him 
poor, poor he will remain until the end of the chapter. 

As to women, the great change of life begins to be prepared for; 
if the bridge is safely crossed, they may safely calculate on two 
or three periods more. At sixty-tliree, multitudes die; the down¬ 
hill of life has been taken ; a false step, a slight mistake, a tri¬ 
fling inconsideration, a little injudiciousness, there is a stumble on 
the steep incline, and a headlong plunge into the grave. If this 
is survived, one.more period brings us to the threescore and ten, 
which few ever pass. 

Having given the lessons applicable to the preparation for im- 


632 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


pregnation, for tlie whole period of gestation, the birth, the bath¬ 
ing, the feeding, the nursing, the weaning, the dress, the teething 
and the habitual cleanliness of person and apparel so necessary 
to the body, so purifying to the heart, so elevating to the mind ; 
the second station, the second mile-post is reached, the tuition pe¬ 
riod, the beginning of learning and of 

SCHOOLING CHILDREN. 

Only general principles can be laid down, until the child, boy or 
girl, has entered the seventh year, when the permanent teeth be¬ 
gin to appear, as if nature were now intending a new effort, lay¬ 
ing the first solid foundation for the great work of life, the 
discipline of the mind. No study should be required beyond learn¬ 
ing the alphabet, and some of the first general principles of our 
holy religion. On entering the seventh year, two hours should be 
set apart in the forenoon, and one in the afternoon in learning to 
read, write and cipher. Until entering the tenth year no study con¬ 
nected with books should be allowed, no recitations, no tasks of 
any kind out of those hours ; only three hours in the twenty-four 
for such things ; at least twelve to sleeping and eating, and the 
remainder in muscular activities, either in work or play; every 
second of them possible should be out of doors in the open air, 
that is, every second before sundown, for at sundown every child, 
boy or girl, should be required to come into the house and stay there 
up to fourteen years of age, unless under a parent’s eye or within a 
parent’s call. Stay in the house from sundown until bed-time, win¬ 
ter or summer, in the city or in the country, at home or abroad. 
“ It is outside of their father’s door after sundown, from eight 
to sixteen, that nine-tenths of all the criminals are made who 
come before me,” was the announcement from the bench, of 
one of the greatest and best of England’s Judges. Before the 
seventh year, girls and boys are naturally within doors after sun¬ 
down ; but then they begin to want greater liberties, their natural 
restlessness becomes harder to control, and they yearn for the 
rompings of the street. And here it is that the tight rein, of- 
parental authority should begin to be drawn—stern, imperative, 
absolute. “ Never outside of my door after sundown for one 
brief five minutes, unless under my eye.” How would such a 
precept, irreversible as any Medo-Persian law, depopulate the 
penitentiaries in twenty years, and rid the gallows of half its vie-’ 


TIIE XEW APPETITE. 


033 


tims. But there must he a substitute for the enlivenment of the 
street. 

HOME MADE HAPPY. 

This is the panacea; it is here that splendid women and mag¬ 
nificent men are made; in a happy home, a home of unity and 
peace between father and mother, where there is always and 
under all circumstances a reciprocity of courtly and affectionate 
attentions, a constant exhibition of deference, of self-abnega¬ 
tions; a mutual, watchful care and Solicitude and sympathy; of 
quiet deportment, of gentle words and tender tones, the youngest 
child, the tiniest infant of a month, servants, the guest, the tran¬ 
sient caller, the very atmosphere of the mansion, all will catch it, 
will instinctively adopt it, and there will reign inevitably and al¬ 
ways whatever there is on earth of loveliness, of goodness > of purity 
and exaltedness of aim and end in life which makes of men the 
kinsfolk of the angels. 

When children get toward the fourteenth year, three hours in 
the forenoon and two in the afternoon should be spent in severe 
study; the remainder of the day-light in outdoor activities in 
part; in the acquisition of the first general principles of botany, 
in the cultivation of the garden, the orchard, the field, and the for¬ 
est. Nothing can be as delightful for the present, and so full 
of interest and pleasure in the future, as the study of the.plants 
and flowers, with the objects before you, which you can see, feel 
and handle, and better comprehend with the aid of a competent 
instructor in one hour, than in a week or even in a month by 
the help of a book and the play of the imagination, with the waste 
of nervous and brain power involved. At the very least, one-half 
the studv, one-half the vital force of childhood is worse than- 
squandered and lost, by the mere effort to catch at and imagine 
what a book means and teaches; all of which might be saved, 
besides a corresponding loss of precious time, with a competent 
instructor and the object in view. 

The same may be said of the principles of geology; out of the 
hours of study the teachers could go out into “ the highways and 
hedges, to the spring bed and the branch,” the trout-brook and the 
creek or river side; or scale the mountain, or delve into the 
valley, and with hammer and trowel could teach the histories 
of the rocks—how long they had lain there, whence they came, 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


634 

what their constituents, through what they had passed, and what 
their probable destiny in the lapse of ages to come, so that there 
would be not a rod of earth, of stony bed, or grass-green level, or 
tangled bush, wherein might not be found by an inquiring boy 
or girl, ever-gushing fountains of amusement, instruction, and 

O / O O * ' 

acquisition. 

It might take a little longer to educate boys and girls thus, but, 
if so much was not learned, what was studied would be more 
satisfactorily known, would be longer remembered, would be 
more thoroughly utilized and enjoyed in all the life thereafter. 
At the same time, when the weather was unpropitious, or the 
hour of the day was unsuitable for these out-door employments, 
with lessons in sowing seed and setting-out plants, in trimming and 
in pruning, in hoeing, in ploughing and harvesting; then, in-door 
lessons in music could be taken; music on the harp, the piano, 
the bass-viol, or the beautiful flute; or in sketching, and painting, 
and designing—all equally proper for girls and boys, equally 
elevating, equally refined, and equally full of saving amusement 
—amusement in the family which will invite from the street, from 
the low. taverns, and from the corrupting theatre. By thus 
utilizing the time of children at home, losing no hour of any day, 
but having every one filled up fully between solid study and the 
study of amusement, making it at the same time a glad recreation 
and a pastime of intense, absorbing interest, more would be 
learned by the time boys and girls became of age—learned more 
thoroughly, and in a manner to be made more practically useful, 
with the saving of health, and with half the expenditure of 
mental and nervous power than is now incurred by the very best 
systems of education. This was the programme carried out by 
the Queen, of England, to the end of raising a large family of 
children in vigorous health, without a death, and nearly all of 
them, at this writing, themselves healthy fathers and mothers, 
heirs to the proudest thrones in Christendom. 

In reference to the whole subject of boy and girl education up 
to this date, it must be acknowledged that less progress has been 
made than in almost any other branch of human investigation. 

School-teaching is yet a barbarism, % cruelty, a curse. Three- 
fourths of all the children who enter school-rooms this day liter¬ 
ally despise school; it is their utter abomination, and in their deep 
execrations of it, they take their first lessons, in too many cases, 


THE NEW APPETITE. 


G35 


in fraud and deceit and pretence and actual lying. They easily 
learn to feign sickness not felt, to invent excuses without foun¬ 
dation, and to play truant without remorse, only if they can 
avoid the hated, hateful task; a task which might have been 
made a pleasure and a life-long profit. , In few words, 

OBJECT-TEACniNO 

only ought to be recognized in any civilized land, in any humane 
community, at least until the foundation of the first elementary 
studies have been laid. 

Meanwhile, we must go back to the eventful age of fourteen, 
the boundary-line between youth and womanhood and manhood, 
with all their high responsibilities, when the mind peers with such 
intense interest into the mysteries of reproduction; when the 
whole nature is on the eve of change, and a new world opens to 
the inquiring eye, waking up new sentiments, new passions, new 
aspirations ; all wonderful, all absorbing, called the age of 

PUBERTY, 

From the Homan word “puer” a boy; continuing a boy no 
longer—preparing to enter man’s estate. This comes earlier 
to girls than to boys, but there is a danger to both, arising from 
neglect or evil associations; a danger to girls now and then, 
but to boys always; a danger which parents remember they were 
exposed to, but which, somehow or other they fail to caution 
their children against; excusing themselves by shutting their eyes, 
glossing it over, and cherishing the hope that in some indefi¬ 
nite kind of way or other their children may not fall into it, or 
may make their way out of it without their troubling themselves 
about it. But this never happens. The appetite connected with 
the subject is inappeasable-—nature calls as imperatively as for 
food and drink, and together with the curiosity engendered in 
connection with it, it winds its serpent coil around every boy, 
from which deliverance is never had without loss of youthful in¬ 
genuousness, and sometimes youthful conscience, youthful moral 
sense; now and then there is a loss of health, of life, and worse, 
of reason. Sometimes the young get "into the circuit of the 
maelstrom, and presently wake up as from a horrid dream, and 


G36 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


utter appeals so piteous as to move a heart of stone—appeals which, 
in some way or other, come to the city physician from one year’s 
end to another, one of which, with a fee, while writing this very 
line, in an almost copper-plate handwriting, in faultless grammar, 
and in a perfection of composition which speaks for the writer as 
cultivated, educated, refined: 

“ June, 72. 

“ Dear Sir :—I trust you will not consider me impertinent in 
thus addressing you, for I know of no one with whom to advise, 
and whose advice I could trust as I do yours. 

“ I am suffering with a disease brought on by early indiscre¬ 
tion, a disease that is gradually sapping up my vitality. I should 
have advised with private physicians of this city; but they adver¬ 
tise so like quacks that I take them for such, and dare not trust 
myself in their hands. I should have consulted with our family 
physician, or other physicians of the city ; but am known to 
them all, and I cannot bring myself to do so on account of shame. 
Hampered in this way, bound hand and foot, my only hope is in 
you, and in you I put my trust and pray you not to lay this care¬ 
lessly aside, but give me your best counsel; for it is either a cure, 
or by my own hands I die. 

Six years ago, as near as I can guess, I learned through a 
companion what afterward became a habit, practised at first as 
often as once a day, for a week or two at a time, and then twice 
or thrice a week ; and then as I became aware of its injurious¬ 
ness, I with great exertion would lay it aside for a month or two; 
and once six months passed away without debasement, when the 
old habit returned, until I found that at night I would wake 
from lascivious dreams, with the results. That I should have 
fallen so low horrified me, and I swore never to err again. The 
debilitations ceased for two or three months, when I fell again, 
with consequences worse than before and with augmented force. 
It is now ten or more months since I degraded myself of my own 
free will. I can control my mind and thoughts during the day, 
and I would not have a thought or desire which I would be 
ashamed for my mother to know. But if I over-exert myself, or 
take a hearty supper, I have an exhaustion by the morning for • 
two or three times in the week, undermining my health and im¬ 
pairing my memory. I am temperate in all things, and have 
never stepped out of the bounds of propriety and virtue.” 


VICIOUS HABITS. 


637 


See other remarks under head of “ Nocturnals.” In reference 
to one of the remarks above, the habit of secret vice is 
fallen into spontaneously without any teaching whatever, and noc¬ 
turnals will come whether it is practised or not, and, as explained 
elsewhere, will continue to occur although the vice has been dis¬ 
continued years before ; but let it be distinctly remembered, and 
it is repeated here in order to make a deeper impression, that they 
do not occur as an effect of the vice, they have no necessary connec¬ 
tion with it; and instead of taking remedies to cure nocturnals as 
a diseased result of secret vice, they ought not to be suppressed 
at all, cannot be healthfully and safely suppressed any more than 
the suppression of urine, which is always certain death within a 
week. The only method of getting rid of them is in honorable 
marriage and the indulgence of its rights, in accordance with 
the general principles enunciated in a previous page, when 
a healthful condition of the reproductive system "will continue, 
until the clock of life runs down and the fires of youth are. put 
out forever in sight of the century. Sometimes such excesses 
in secret indulgence are committed as to end in idiocy. Medical 
works record such instances, and as there can be no telling in 
the case of any child that there shall not be such excess, each par¬ 
ent owes it to the children to have a wise and intelligent eye to 
these things, and when there is reason to suppose the existence of 
such a habit, to plainly state its sin and danger, and, by appeals to 
the moral sense and to conscience, endeavor to implant resolves 
firm enough to break up the habit. Much might be done by 
teaching children that the hands should never be allowed to be 
carried to the parts a single instant, except what is requisite for 
bathing purposes ; teach them that it is degrading to do so ; that 
the good and refined would look upon it with the utmost con¬ 
tempt in case of its ever being ascertained, impressing their young 
minds with an utter loathing of stich handlings. If there is such a 
degree of reprobacy in any case that no impression can be made 
on the mind, and there is seen every indication of a determination 
to persist in indulgence, the surgeon should be called to the girl, 
and the whole thing can be rectified in a moment, and ought to be ; 
as to boys, a discreet physician should be consulted. 

Reference was made in the letter to having learned these prac¬ 
tices from others. Two cautions are here given to parents : that 
in countless cases these things are taught children and youth by 


638 


IIALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


tlie servants in the kitchen, boy and men waiters, coachmen, ap¬ 
prentices, young clerks, and unmarried journeymen. Boys and 
girls should be early learned and drilled into the idea never to be 
alone in a room with only one person. Seek to impress on their 
minds, in proper ways, an idea of indefinable horrors resulting 
from such things. In addition, let it be a fixed thing, as irre¬ 
sistible as the fiat of a despot, never to allow one child to sleep in 
the same bed with another after entering the third year; never, 
after entering the fourth year, allow a boy and girl to undress in 
the same room, let alone enter the same bed, simply because of 
the acknowledged fact known to all physicians, that the sexual 
instinct has manifested itself before five-years of age; hence it is 
better to begin early, and thus be on the safe side, so as to pre¬ 
vent an early shock of the moral sense of the young. 


ENTERING WOMANHOOD. 

"When the young girl’s nature first begins the great change, or 
even previous to the time, her mother should make it her business to 
give the proper information, not with a great ado, but with such an 
indifference, in such a matter-of-fact way, that it shall be regarded 
as a business, as an elevating occurrence, rather than one of 
shamefulness — that it is womanly—that it is exalting—a thing 
rather to be proud of. In this way the young girl will not hesi¬ 
tate to make the mother her confidant, and the door is open for a 
co-operation and a course of instructions which will lead to safe 
and happy results. If, on the other hand, the girl has no instruc¬ 
tion, she will learn by degrees from schoolmates that something 
may be expected, and of a character that no one ought to know 
anything about. And many times, in their efforts at conceal¬ 
ment, dangerous washings and bathings have been resorted to, 
causing repressions which impair the health, and lead the way 
to a life-ion^ invalidism. 

• Girls should be taught the importance at such times to guard 
against all causes of suppression, to give instant information of 
any stoppage, or death may occur in a very short time ; that 
cold feet, that wet feet, that getting out of bed on a cold floor, or 
with the feet on an oil-clotli in a bath-room, or sitting upon stones, 
on marble seats or damp benches, or standing on the wet grass 
even for five minutes; that having a garment wetted by the rain, 


CAUSE OF CANCER 


639 


that sitting in a door or at an open window, at home or in a car¬ 
riage or other vehicle while the wind is blowing, especially after 
exercise has been taken—that all these tilings are positively 
dangerous to life. Such should be the instructions given to girls 
by every mother, with such -repetitions and explanations as are 
necessary to make a clear, distinct, and definite impression on the 
mind—one that cannot be forgotten. Without these confidences 
between mother and child, there will be more or less of conceal¬ 
ment, especially about the development of the breasts ; the little 
girl will seek to hide it, just as the youth shuts the door, locks and 
bolts it, and puts a chair in front of it and a basin on the chair, 
and closes * every window, draws down every blind, when he is 
going to shave himself for the first time. In these efforts she 
fails to let out her dress, if anything tightens it. This compres¬ 
sion of course arrests the proper and healthful flow of the blood 
through the minute blood-vessels and causes hard lumps, which in 
after-life, sometimes are sure to result in cancer of the breast, one of 
the most horrible of all human maladies; hence the conscientious 
mother, as she values her child’s best interests, will begin early to 
impress these lessons on the mind, that under no conceivable cir¬ 
cumstance should any pressure be made on the bosoms for even 
five minutes, but that the clothing should be as loose and free as 
possible, not less necessary during gestation and until the change 
of life. 

Great injury is done to the moral and physical nature of girls 
by tight and heavy clothing over the hips ; by dancing, jumping 
down from heights, by excessive exertions, false steps, as in com¬ 
ing down-stairs. Falling of the womb and other misplacements 
have often taken place from these things. Girls should be early 
taught that in getting out of carriages, in stepping from chairs, 
in being helped over fences, it is always better to be deliberate, to 
alight on the toes as much as possible and as little as may be on 
the heel; that all running up-stairs lias a dangerous tendency, 
and all protracted efforts of every description shoukhbe avoided. 
Girls, in their ambition to jump a rope a certain number of times, 
have succeeded, and the next moment have fallen dead, in one 
case after two hundred jumps. 

As early as fourteen the girls of a family ought to be taught to 
take their turns in the management of certain household duties, of 
clearing up rooms, of making their own beds, of sweeping and 


640 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


dusting, of baking, of making cakes and pies and puddings, and 
other desserts and delicacies, of washing up the tea-things, of set¬ 
ting the table with taste and elegance, of darning and mending, 
and by degrees to sew on buttons, to cut and fit dresses and make 
them, to trim bonnets, and make shirts and work button-holes. 
Bring them up in these things, encourage them, lead them along 
pleasantly, patiently, firmly. Bear in mind two things: First., 
children have a pride in feeling that they are useful. Second, 
that they will take more pains to keep up their name for any¬ 
thing, to maintain their character for a specified thing, whether it 
be good or bad, than they will to get that character. There is a 
pride in excelling in the bad as well as the good. If you give a 
child the reputation of being the greatest dunce, he will feign 
being a dunce rather than lose his credit. Many an evil trait has 
been grafted in children by the injudiciousness of parents in giv¬ 
ing them a reputation for superiority. In plain terms, if you give 
your child the credit of his being the noisiest in the family, 
he will soon be found working hard to keep up his standing, to 
add to his credit. But give your daughter a name for being the 
tidiest in her dress, the most orderly in her room, the readiest in 
her services or other good quality, and she will work hard there¬ 
after to retain her standing. 

TRAINING GIRLS. 

Training girls for household duties ought to be considered as 
necessary as instruction in reading, writing and arithmetic, and 
quite as universal. We are in our houses more than half our 
existence, and it is the household surroundings which affect most 
largely the happiness or misery of domestic life. If the wife 
knows how to “ keep house,” if she understands how to “ set a 
table,” if she has learned how things ought to be cooked, how 
beds should be made, how carpets should be swept, how furniture 
should be dusted, how the clothes should be repaired, and turned, 
and altered, and renovated; if she knows how purchases can be 
made to the best advantage, and understands the laying in of 
provisions, how to make them go farthest and last longest; if she 
appreciates the importance of system, order, tidiness, and the 
quiet management of children and servants, then she knows how 
to make' a little heaven of home—how to win her children from 


THE MOTHERLESS GIRL . 


611 


the street; howto keep her husband from the club-house, the 
gaming-table, and the wine-cup. Such a family will be trained 
to social respectability, to business success, and to efficiency and 
usefulness in whatever position may be allotted to them. 

It may be safe to say, that not one girl in ten in our large 
towns and cities enters into married life who has learned to bake 
a loaf of bread, to purchase a roast, to dust a painting, to sweep a 
carpet, or to cut and lit, and make her own dress. How much 
the perfect knowledge of these things bears upon the thrift, the 
comfort and health of families, may be conjectured, but not cal¬ 
culated by figures. It would be an immeasurable advantage to 
make a beginning by attaching a kitchen to every girls’ school in 
the nation, and have lessons given daily in the preparation of all 
the ordinary articles of food and drink for the table, and how to 
purchase them in the market to the best advantage, with the 
result of a large saving of money, an increase of comfort, and 
higher health in every family in the land. 

Mothers should be encouraged to take pains to initiate their 
children when very young into the mysteries of the household, 
not only as a matter of duty, but of policy and humanity; of 
duty to the child, of policy to themselves, and of humanity to her 
own family. It is said of the wife of the munificent founder of 
Yassar College, at Poughkeepsie, Hew York, on the Hudson, 
which admirable establishment has in course of preparation for 
domestic duties, as well for the dining-room as the salon, several 
hundred young girls, going out one class after another to liappify 
society as well as to elevate it, that she was left motherless at the 
age of ten years, and had to take charge of the large family of 
her father’s children: to these she consecrated her youthful ener- 
gies, and with all the disadvantages of want of schooling and a 
very limited knowledge of household affairs. She sacrificed her 
education, she sacrificed society, and through long years of care 
and toil, and anxiety and hard, hard work, she completed her task 
and did it well; and no doubt these experiences, in talking over 
them in after-life with her husband, led him, with her co-oper¬ 
ation and her counsel, to establish at the expense of several hun¬ 
dred thousand dollars, an institution which shall continue to send 
out its benign influences all over the land for ages to come; its 
object being to qualify girls to become wives, mothers, house¬ 
keepers in the best sense of the word. 


642 


• HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


In reference to the subject of generally initiating girls into the 
knowledge and practice of household duties, a woman who has 
had experience of it all, and speaks from that experience with a 
practical clearness which well befits such an one as she is, and 
her name is given to add weight to her authority, Mrs. Henry 
Ward Beecher, says: “Little by little, as the child grows toward 
womanhood, let the mother throw off some portion of her cares, 
teaching her daughters to oversee or perform them correctly, and 
by so doing not only lighten her own labors, but make such 
duties easy for her children in after-years, or if they should be 
called prematurely to the entire charge. When daughters are 
old enough to become their mother’s companions, they should also 
become joint partners in home and household responsibilities. 
When out of school divide the work so that every other week the 
mother shall be entirely free from all care—a guest in the family 
—or if that is at first too great a tax on the young partner, ‘ take 
turns’ in dividing the work, the daughter one week having the 
charge of the cooking, marketing, and arranging for each meal 
entirely herself; the next week, of the dairy, if on a farm, or the 
laundry or chamber-work. When each week is ended, the 
mother can point out the failures or recommend a better or 
easier way of doing some particular thing; but unless advice or 
directions are asked, it is far better that the young housekeeper 
should be left to her own skill and judgment. For a few times 
this may not prove the best economy, but in the end 6 it pays,’ and 
with good interest. Of course, before this plan can be carried 
into execution to any extent, the young lady has served an ap¬ 
prenticeship so far as to know herself that part of the work 
which comes under her jurisdiction each week; and wdien prac¬ 
tice shall have made perfect, and the term of apprenticeship ex¬ 
pires, it .is excellent discipline for a daughter to assume the reins 
entirely, for a shorter or longer time, as health or pleasure may 
determine, subject to such suggestions as may be deemed advis¬ 
able. This arrangement gives rest and liberty, if all her children 
are grown up, for the mother to read, travel, or enjoy social life, 
as she could not do when they were young and needing the care 
which should never be delegated to another, unless compelled by 
ill-health.” 


WEAKLY CHILDREN. 


643 


FRAIL CHILDREN 

Need not die early; judicious care may educate into active 
bodies and vigorous minds, to become useful and renowned in 
later years. Dr. Farr wisely says: If weakly children are tided 
over infancy, the result, it may be said, will be an increase of 
sickly adults and degeneration of race. All breeders of animals 
throw aside bad specimens. The Spartans did not allow the 
father to dispose of his child as he thought fit, for he was obliged 
to take it to the triers, who, if they found it puny and ill-shaped, 
ordered it to be carried to a sort of chasm under Taygetus; of 
this course Socrates and Plato approved. At Athens and Rome 
the infant at birth was laid upon the ground, and was abandoned 
to its fate if the father did not lift his child from mother earth, 
who was assumed to have claims upon its fragile body. The Ro¬ 
mans were reproached by the Christian fathers for their inhu¬ 
manity. “ Which of you,” says Tertullian, upbraiding the Gen¬ 
tiles in rude eloquence, “has not slain a child at birth?” Thus 
the right of a child to life was questioned at its very threshold, 
and he only won it after examination. Children were dipped, 
like Achilles, in cold water to harden or to kill them, as the case 
might be. Through Christianity, through one of the leading 
races of mankind—the Jews—and through the manly sense of 
the Anglo-Saxons, we have been led to look upon children in 
another light, and be they weak or strong their lives are sacred in 
the eyes of English law. Experience has- justified this policy. 
Great qualities of soul are often hidden in the frailest child. 
One Christmas day »a premature posthumous son was born in 
England, of such an extremely diminutive size, and apparently of 
so perishable a frame, that two women who were sent to Lady 
Pakenham, • at North Witliam, to bring some medicine to 
strengthen him, did not expect to find him alive on their return, 
lie would inevitably have been consigned to the caverns of Tay¬ 
getus if the two women had carried him to Spartan triers. As it 
was, the frail boy grew up into Newton, lived more than four¬ 
score years, and revealed to mankind the laws of the universe. 
If he had perished, England would not have been what it is in 
the world. In Paris one evening a puny child in a neat little 
basket was picked up : he had been left at the church door; the 
commissary of the police was about to carry him to the foundling 


BALDS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


644 

hospital, when a glaziers wife exclaimed: “You will kill the 
child in your hospital, give him to me; I have no children, I will 
take care of him.” She cherished the boy, poor as she w T as, until 
some one, perhaps his father, settled a small annuity on his life, 
with which he was educated at the Mazarin College, where he 
displayed the early genius of a Pascal; it w r as D’Alembert, to 
whom we are indebted for a new calculus, for the grand intro¬ 
duction to the Cyclopaedia, and for innumerable physical discov¬ 
eries. He was offered 100,000 francs a year by Catharine of 
Russia, but refused to leave his mother by adoption—the glazier’s 
wife—and his country. While pagan Greece and Home, and 
barbarous nations of a later date, have regarded infant life with 
such indifference, Christianity comes in with a more humane 
evangel and says, in the person of its Founder, “Of such is the 
kingdom of heaven,” and the precept and the encouragement go 
together. “ Be given to hospitality,” and in doing so w T e may 
“entertain angels unawares.” 

CITY AND COUNTRY CHILDREN 

Are exposed to their peculiar temptations. But as there is more 
elevation in the city, greater intelligence and more breadth of 
view on all subjects, the probabilities are that those bred in the 
city are more likely to live to purpose, to have higher ideas, more 
exalted ambitions, and, as a result, to attain greater achievements. 
The millions of money given to objects calculated to improve the 
condition of the poor and to advance society, by such men as the 
Astors, and Coopers, and Drews, and Greens, and Lenoxes, and 
McCormicks, and Boberts, the Stuart Brothers, and A. T. Stewart, 
the merchant prince, show clearly that it is the city which educates 
the mind to magnificent deeds. 

In the country town, the village, the farm-house, there is a 
certain narrowness of life, a contractedness of observation and 
experience, with a general want of knowledge of the nature of 
things, of oneself, and of the human heart, all of which com¬ 
bined give less character, less firmness of mind, less fixedness 
of purpose, choosing the enjoyment of to-day rather than wait for 
the greater one in the future. Thus it is that they more readily 
yield to temptation, more readily fall into crime. The greatest 
crimes of the century have been committed in the country by 


THE WIFE OF WASHINGTON. 


645 


country people; our penitentiaries and onr asylums are peopled 
from the farm. There is a certain roughness of deportment, a 
certain low and contracted form of shrewdness common in village 
life, which make it easy to slide into wrong-doing. A nameless 
writer well says that “ girls brought up in the city are less apt to 
be led astray than those reared in the country, and gives as the 
chief reason for it that they are educated into a higher delicacy 
w r itli regard to all those forms of personal freedom, which serve 
as an entering wedge for the more dangerous liberties which may 
be attempted by the other sex. The country girl, on the contrary, 
is, by the ruder license of close neighborhood association, and 
the confidence inspired by intimate acquaintance in the school 
and social circle, from actual infancy positively educated into 
utter thoughtlessness with regard to manifold rough and boisterous 
personal freedoms, which, with equal thoughtlessness allowed in 
association with the more shrewd and unscrupulous character of 
the city, furnish all the initiative advantage desired by it for 
effecting her destruction. From the simple absence of culture 
and refinement, much is tolerated both in speech and action, 
among the reputable classes in the country, that is never thought 
of being practised among the corresponding classes in the city.” 

A writer in reference to the domestic habits of English families, 
says: “Having lived in different castles and manor-houses of 
Great Britain, and been accustomed to the industrious habits of 
Duchesses and Countesses, I was utterly astonished at the idleness 
of American fine ladies. Ho Englishwoman of rank (with the 
exception of a few) from the Queen downward, will remain for 
one half-hour unemployed, or sit in a rocking-chair, unless seriously 
ill. They almost all copy the letters of business of their husbands, 
fathers, or brothers; attend minutely to the poor around them, 
and even take part in their amusements,. and sympathize with 
their sorrows; visit and superintend the schools; work in their 
own gardens; see to their household concerns; and with all these 
occupations, by early hours they keep up their acquaintance with 
the literature and politics of the day, and cultivate the accom¬ 
plishments of music and drawing, and often acquire besides some 
knowledge of scientific pursuits.” 

Letter-writers of the olden time were charmed with the wife of 
Washington, whose busy fingers kept going in knitting and sewing 
while conversing with her most distinguished visitors at Mount 


646 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


Vernon, or at the Executive Mansion in the Federal City. Parents 
in later days should inculcate on their daughters especially that 

IDLENESS IS WICKEDNESS : 

That the odds and ends of time should be saved; that there is no 
time to be wasted in trifling conversation, in spiritless lolling and 
lounging about the house, in waiting for things or persons; rather 
have something in hand all the time; either be crocheting, or 
romping, or studying, or engaged in an occupation which leaves 
less for the other members of the family to do, for servants, for 
mother. That too many mothers are overworked, the more so, 
that daughters who might help them fail to do so, is known to 
all observant minds. It is not putting the case too strongly to say 
that many a toiling mother is hurried into her grave by lazy, 
selfish daughters who sit idly by and see her toil without ever 
offering to lend a helping hand, for fear their hands or dress 
might suffer. 

NO MORE GIRLS. 

All are young ladies now, because injudicious mothers push their 
children on too rapidly. Girls wear kid gloves and sport parasols 
at six years of age; at so early a time, do they receive instructions 
about being lady-like and womanly ? The sequel is that our children 
lose their pretty, childish, unaffected ways ; early learn to be pru¬ 
dish and deceitful, and assume manners constrained and unnat¬ 
ural ; too early do they cease to roll over the floor and run and sing 
about the house, as the spirit of childhood would promp them to 
do ; the restrictions of propriety are forever held over them ; in¬ 
stead of the sun-bonnet of the olden time, which they could throw 
over their heads in a second, they seldom go outside the door 
without the modern “ hat/’ with its ribbons and its French flow¬ 
ers and other expensive ornaments; and the waist must be drawn 
in and girded tight; the shoes must fit closely, and the gloves must 
be drawn over the hand; and we look in vain for the unsophisti¬ 
cated manners of innocent childhood. Our children will cet old 
soon enough, too soon, alas ! and before we are fifty we will sigh 
for the olden time when their ringing laugh and pattering feet 
and noisy voices made the whole house 

A BEDLAM, 

as we thought then, and hoped for the time when we would be 


EATING UABITS. 


047 


delivered from it, and lo! now, we would give half we have to 
have those sunshiny days return. 

c 

GIRLS AT HOME 

From fifteen to the marriageable age of twenty or over, and 
better over, being a great deal about the house, are very apt to 
lay the foundation of lives of wretchedness by inadvertently fall¬ 
ing into personal habits which undermine the health irretrievably. 
Medical books assure us that the large majority of cases of 

DYSPEPSIA AND CONSUMPTION 

have their foundation laid in the “ teens’ 5 of life, ailments which 
are easily avoidable in nine cases out of ten. 

NIBBLING. 

Girls going round the house easily fall into the habit of 
nibbling at every eatable their eyes happen to light upon. Every¬ 
thing eaten has to be digested, even if it be but a single pea or 
strawberry or apple ; this requires the work of the stomach. 
Very few articles of food are digested, worked up into nutriment 
in a shorter time than from two to five hours; if something is 
eaten every hour or two, the stomach is kept on working, has no 
time for rest during the whole day; it may keep up for a while, 
but not long; it will give out; it loses its tone, its power of 
digestion; the food taken into it remains to a certain extent 
unaltered, the nourishment is not drawn from it, the proper 
quality and quantity of blood is not made; the blood is our life 
and strength; there is less vigor, less animation, less activity; the 
blood becomes thin and poor and watery and cold ; chilliness is 
easily induced, bad colds easily taken, and these following after 
one another, it soon comes about that one bad cold comes before an¬ 
other has disappeared. They run into one another until there is at 
first a constant clearing of the throat, then a hack and a hem, and in 
due time a slight cough, often in the morning when rising from 
the bed or soon after—a fruitless cough, just enough to remove 
a little tickle from the throat, no phlegm, no expectoration. Feel 
the pulse; it is seventy-five or eighty or more in a minute. This 
is consumption. But suppose it took another direction, and the 


648 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


disease fixed itself on the stomach instead of the lungs, it soon 
develops itself into confirmed dyspepsia. The appetite at meal¬ 
times is irregular; sometimes thene is none, at others it is vora¬ 
cious. There is more or less discomfort sooner or later after each 
meal. Sometimes the hunger is so great that it seems impossible 
to wait for the regular dinner hour. Occasionally it is found out 
that a swallow or two of food quiets this craving hunger. That 
spoils the desire ; there is no relish for food for several hours after. 
Thus there is no regularity in eating, the whole system is deranged 
in its functions, the poor chilled blood cannot keep the feet warm; 
it is so watery that it fails to redden the cheek, and there is a 
pallor upon it, indicating too plainly that the health is waning. 
Long before now, perhaps, it has been noticed that the bowels fail 
to act every day, and there is more or less of headache; irregu¬ 
larities, delays, scantiness or excess, is observed in connection 
with the peculiar functions, and the young lady of eighteen is a 
confirmed invalid. What pertains to proper eating and drinking 
is fully treated in the author’s book on “ Health by Good Living,” 
while the whole subject is fully discussed in the volume entitled 
“ Health and Disease,” pertaining to the proper regulation of the 
bowels, and the rectification of their various irregularities, and 
the wise management of the eating. It is sufficient here to di¬ 
rect the attention of mothers especially, to a few of the most im¬ 
portant points in the healthful education of daughters. 

EATING. 

From four years of age until the end of life, without some pe¬ 
culiar modifying circumstances, three meals a day should be in¬ 
culcated as a habit. Breakfast in the morning, dinner at noon, 
supper about sundown, with nothing whatever between meals, not 
an apple, not an orange, not a cake or a pie, nothing whatever. 
As to drinking pure cool water when thirsty, there is no restric¬ 
tion. At breakfast and dinner there need not be any restriction 
of the young in the eating of plain, nourishing food. They will sel¬ 
dom eat too much; not over a tea-cupful of warm drink, nor over 
half a glass of cold drink, never both at the same meal. Warm 
drink, in the quantity above named, is always the best for the 
young, sedentary, and invalids. Cold water in large quantities at 
meal-time, or within half an hour after, is positively injurious. 


LIGHT SUTTERS. 


649 


The supper should be always light from childhood to the grave, 
limiting it positively to a cup of warm drink, not sweet milk, and 
some cold bread and butter; an imperative rule of this sort for 
the young, for all that live, would be an inconceivable good for 
every human being, a life-long benefit, and it is greatly to be de¬ 
plored that families will persist in having a little 

“ relish ” 

on the table, a little smoked beef or cake, or pie, or sweetmeats 
of some kind, the effect being that a person sitting down and not 
feeling hungry will take a bit of one or the other, then another 
bit, and before he knows it, a considerable meal has been taken, 
forced upon the system when it did not call for it, the result 
many times being, half a night of coughing, or nausea, or fulness 
or other discomfort, with a waking up in the midnight of weari¬ 
ness and weakness and unrestedness which leaves one more dead 
than alive, and scarcely any appetite for breakfast. If light sup¬ 
pers were taken, it would generally be found that the system would 
soon call for breakfast, would relish it, would enjoy it, and the 
exercise of the wdiole of the day following would go to its con¬ 
version into healthful, life giving blood. 

The regular meals should be at least five hours apart, for they 
are not usually digested and passed out of the stomach in a 
shorter time; it is thus enabled to clear itself, and get a little 
rest; it is the want of that rest, occasioned by the habit of eating 
a little something between meals, which makes us a 

NATION OF DYSPEPTICS, 

with the aid of eating with headlong haste, gulping our food 
in lumps and chunks, large enough to choke an elephant to 
death. 

The next most important thing for mothers to teach their chil¬ 
dren is the proper 

REGULATION OF THE ROWELS 

to one regular action every twenty-four hours, the best time being 
soon after breakfast. Without this there can be no good health, 
for one single week, to any human being. This want of regularity 


050 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


is more or less connected with every malady of man. Three 
times out of four, if you hear persons complaining, it will be found, 
on close inquiry, that for a day or two their bowels have not acted 
with regularity. This is an excellent plan for impressing it on 
the minds of children, that almost all sickness has, as an attendant, 
a failure of the bowels to act properly ; show them, also, that as 
they are getting well, they begin to act more naturally. We are 
born with regularly acting bowels; this regularity is generally 
first broken into by putting off the inclination, if something is in 
hand to make it inconvenient, such as the calling of a visitor, the 
wish to complete a task, the hurry of preparing to go to school, 
or the waiting for other persons. The reason for deferring a call 
of nature may be ever so good, but the effect is always the same 
—she is baffled, is quiet for a while, then makes complaint again, 
but never with impunity, for the foundation is laid for a later 
and feebler call next day, until after a while a whole day passes, 
and there is no evacuation of the bowels; then comes other symp¬ 
toms of headache, of cold feet and hands, irregular appetite, bad 
taste in the mouth, of vomitings, chilliness, and various other dis¬ 
comforts, ending oftentimes in life-long piles, and dangerous, 
expensive, and even fatal fistulas. 

Daughters should be taught early, that delaying urination too 
Ions: brings on inflammation of the bladder, water cannot be made, 
and death follows in four or five days. Four or five hours are 
too long in the day-time; but at night, because being kept warm 
in bed, the water in the system escapes more freely in the form 
of insensible perspiration. Urination ought to be attended to al¬ 
ways, the last thing on going to bed, and before leaving home, 
especially for. public gatherings, where there is liability to be kept 
longer than expected. If it should be so that water cannot be 
made, when there is a desire to do so, send for a physician at once ; 
but don’t excite or alarm the patient; rather attempt to divert the 
mind, and if left alone, the sound of water being made in an ad¬ 
joining room has brought on urination, as the sound of it often 
induces animals to perform the function. 

Great pains should be taken to teach girls the high importance 
of keeping their feet warm, never to go to bed with 

COLD FEET. 

That sitting or standing still five minutes with damp feet, en- 


AVOIDING COLDS. 


C51 


dangers life; or tliat being still for that time with damp clothing 
or skirt is not less dangerous; and that nothing can be a sufficient 
excuse for not changing the clothing or stockings and shoes when 
noticed to be at all damp, especially during the catamenial flow; 
that such neglect becomes a crime, because it unnecessarily en¬ 
dangers life, to say nothing of the trouble and expense of having 
one sick in the house for weeks possibly. 

CHANGING CLOTHING 

From a heavier to a lighter dress should never be done with¬ 
out consulting the mother. The change should be gradual, and 
north of Virginia should not be attempted sooner than the last 
of May. It is dangerous even to pull off a dress after a visit or 
drive or shopping, the moment one gets into the house, even in 
sitmmer-time, and then put on a cold one. A cold silk dress at 
noon of a summer day in place of a warm one has often given a 
dangerous cold. • 

Mothers should begin early to impress on their daughters’ 
minds the manifold forms of disease which have been brought 
on by 


COOLING OFF TOO SOON, 

After any form of exercise or work, by sitting at an open door 
or window, or hall, or anywhere if there is a draught of air; that 
health is endangered at any time, more especially during the 
periods, hence a girl should never sit on a cold stone. 

Never stand on the damp grass, or wet earth, or moist pave¬ 
ment for a single five minutes. 

Never allow a damp stocking to remain on the foot for a min¬ 
ute, unless it is possible to walk fast until home is reached. 

Never go to bed with cold feet, even if it is midsummer. Go 
to the kitchen, draw off the stockings and hold the naked feet 
to the fire and rub them all the time with the hands—soles, be¬ 
tween the toes, everywhere, until agreeably warm in every part; 
then draw on a clean pair of stockings; by no means walk to the 
bed-chamber over the floor, even if it has a carpet on it. 

Never change an under-vest, the flannel or knit shirt which is 
worn next the skin, to a lighter one, from the time it is put on 
about the first of December until the first of June north of the 


052 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR 


thirty-sixth parallel; for the mornings are sometimes chilly when 
May lias gone, and it is much safer to be a little too warm for a 
few days, than to run the risk of a cold which may bring weeks’ 
discomfort. When a change is made, it should be to a material 
but a little thinner, should be made when dressing for breakfast 
and a few days after a sickness. Attention to these suggestions 
purposely made specific, plain, and definite, would prevent many 
a lingering cold, or alarming sore throat, or fatal pneumonia or 
lung fever, hurrying to the grave within a week. 

Never lie down for a day nap without having some slight 
covering, even if it be in the middle of the hottest day of sum¬ 
mer ; for the body is peculiarly susceptible of cold during sleep, 
at the same time is liable to perspire, when the slightest draught 
gives a cold unless there is some covering. 

In wetting the head or washing the hair, never allow it to dry 
of itself, but press upon it a soft cotton cloth or towel, and rub 
it over the scalp well; do this a number of times, a dry cloth 
each time, then comb the hair gently, with a very coarse comb, 
so that it shall fall over the face and shoulders, spreading out as 
much as possible so as to allow the air to get around each hair if 
practicable; or if you lie down spread it abroad over the pillow. In 
either case, every once in a while flap it up with the hand, carry¬ 
ing it away from the neck and forehead, the more perfectly ad¬ 
mitting the air all around it. The want of these precautions 
has given colds and fevers in the head which have lasted for 
weeks and months, and sometimes caused the hair to fall off, re¬ 
quiring months for a re-growtli. 

Impress upon the daughter’s mind this one great important 
practical truth: notice what is most apt to give you a cold, and then 
for a lifetime afterwards take special pains to guard against it. 
l>y these simple methods persons may live for months and years, 
without ever taking a serious cold, even with a reasonably care¬ 
ful attention to them. Many persons are all the time taking cold, 
and are all the time complaining, are never well, never happy. 

Within twenty years, the constitutions of our women would be 
renovated and our girls would be found models of healthfulness 
if what has been proposed in this chapter was carried out judi¬ 
ciously in reference to our children. 

Dressing loosely and warm, eating systematically and slow T , 
sleeping abundantly at night exercising regularly and often, 


THE BEST BREAD. 


C53 


studying how to avoid colds and secure the regular performance 
of the bodily functions, without a grain or a drop of physic 
being necessary for the accomplishment of any one of them. 
And if in addition the suggestions were carried out as to the mode 
of pursuing studies at school, of taking turns in household 
management, and of regulating the general conduct of life, it is 
impossible that there should not be a marked improvement in 
the quality of the wives of the country, and their capabilities 
for improving, elevating, and liappifying home life. 


-C£C'- 

THE BEST BREAD 

IIas never yet been made, for the want of the best materials out 
of which to make it. Considering that bread is the staff of life, 
that it is eaten at every meal, by every member of the family, 
that no meal is complete without it, it is of the very highest im¬ 
portance in connection with health to know what good bread is, 
and how to make it, premising that multitudes owe their dyspep¬ 
sia and neuralgias to bad bread, and that the principal constitu¬ 
ents of the bones and their strength, and of the teeth and their 
beauty and durability, are derived from the bread we eat, and 
mainly of wheat bread. 

In ancient times the whole of the grain, whether of rye or oats 
or barley or corn or wheat, was made into bread, after a rude 
breaking it into small pieces, including the outer coat or jacket or 
husk or skin, by whatever name it may be called; but this is indi¬ 
gestible and innutritions, being made of sand and wood. We call 
this skin of the wheat u Bran,” which has been fed to four ani¬ 
mals in succession without losing any of its weight, showing that 
there is not one particle of nutriment in it; hence as a constituent 
of food in health it must be useless, and as it makes the bread 
more or less dark, modern ingenuity has been employed in sepa¬ 
rating the bran from the flour most perfectly, but in doing this, in 
the best way ever yet devised, one-fif th of the nutriment, and that 
its best portion, is lost with the bran, and thus lost as human food, 
because it is fed to cattle. That is, in plain terms, if wheat 
were properly ground, four barrels of flour would 




054 


HALL'S FAMLLY DOCTOR. 


GO AS FAR, 

that is, would feed as many men for a specified time, as five bar¬ 
rels now do. Hence the man who discovers a method of convert¬ 
ing wheat into flour without the loss of any of its nutritious por¬ 
tion in separating the bran, will be a greater benefactor to his race 
than Alexander, or Caesar, or Napoleon. The problem will per¬ 
haps he brought to a practical and practicable solution within a 
year, as a patent has been secured for the same, that is, for taking 
the bran from the wheat-grain before it is ground. An inventor 
has procured it to be done, but whether it can be accomplished, 
perfectly and inexpensively on a large scale, is }’et to be deter¬ 
mined. 

A GRAIN OF WHEAT 

has three constituents, its covering or “ bran,” its gluten, and its 
starch. The covering, as seen, has no nutriment whatever ; the 
starch has none, it gives only warmth; hence it is the gluti¬ 
nous portion of the grain which is really valuable as nourishing 
food ; it is the gluten which makes flour “ rise,” it is the gluten 
that makes flesh, that gives strength to the bones, durability and 
beauty to the teeth ; it is the gluten which feeds the brain. 

fig 1. 


0 


COMPOSITION OF THE WHEAT-GRAIN. 

The small figure at the top, left hand side, shows a wheat-grain 
of the natural size in a position at right angles with the horizon 








THE BEST BREAD. 


655 


the rounded part facing the eye. The figure below it represents 
the wheat grain with the grooved part facing the eye. The small¬ 
er figure below and to the left represents the one above it cut in 
two; the other figure to its right shows how a wheat-grain looks 
endwavs, when thus cut in two. The large figure is a magnified 
wheat-grain cut in two, facing the eye, endways. The very outer 
rim, represented by the dotted line on the right-hand side, shows 
the jacket of the wheat-grain, its bran coat made up of silex and 
lignite, that is, it is nothing but sand and wood, and has no more 
nutriment than the splinter of a fence-rail which has been ex¬ 
posed to the sun for a dozen years. 

This bran-coat is three and a half per cent, of the whole grain, 
according to the analysis of Professor E. X. Ilorsford, of Cam¬ 
bridge, Mass. 

Within the bran-coat and next to it, as seen on the left-hand 
side of Fig. 1, there is a line of dark dots like a necklace, repre¬ 
senting the cells which contain the gluten ; inside this necklace is 
the starch of the grain, constituting, in bulk, the largest part of 
the wheat; this starch is found in all grains; it is found in pota¬ 
toes, it is in the arrow-root, the starch of which root we feed to 
children and infants ; ‘all starch is granular, crisp ; gluten is sticky, 
tough, tenacious ; starch keeps us warm ; gluten makes us grow, 
and after we have grown, gives us bones and covers them with 
flesh ; the chief constituent of gluten is nitrogen, which alone 
can make flesh ; the chief constituent of starch is carbon, to keep 
up the fires of life, for where no warmth comes, there is death. 


Fig 2. 



No. 1, 1. The outer coats of the bran. 

“ 2. The inner coat. 

“ 3. is a filmy material separating the bran from the gluten; it covers the gluten. 

“ 4 is an interval of cellular matter, which is essentially gluten. 

“ 5 little bags full of gluten, all inside of them. The sixes starch, w.th a 

very small amount of gluten. 














056 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR 


After tlie whole wheat-grain is ground, the miller takes out the 
bran and gives us flour, made of gluten and starch ; put that 
flour in cold water, make a dough of it, and work it between 
your fingers as long as it will whiten the water, what is left is 
pure gluten ; boil the water until it is all gone, and the remnant 
is starch; or let it stand in a glass, and the starch falls to the 
bottom. 


Fig. 3. 




Fig. 3 shows a scale of miller’s bran cut in two, the edge 
facing you, by which it is seen how the gluten will more or less 
adhere to the bran, and even some of the starch. In fact, a grain 

of wheat is very much like a potato, 
which contains almost its whole nutri¬ 
ment immediately under the outer 
skin, which is really thinner than 
paper; you can see how thin it is 
when you boil a new potato, thus it 
is that in peeling potatoes ; as usually 
done, nearly the entire nutritious, 
strengthening part is thrown away, the 
starchy portion being retained, the 
warming portion used, while the 
strength-giving and flesh-making mate¬ 
rial is fed to the pigs, or thrown into 
the street. If potatoes must be peeled, 
feed the peeling to the cows or to some 
other domestic animal. Any reader 
who has the curiosity to pursue these 
details more minutely would do well 
to consult a prominent publication of 
Mr. Thomas J. Hand, of Hew York 
City, who has been enthusiastic in his 
investigations of the whole subject. 






























THE BEST BREAD. 


657 


Fig. 5. 


Ill figure 4 the entire gluten product of a wheat-grain is exhib¬ 
ited. The covering of the gluten, before spoken of as being very 
thin, is made of two layers, 1, 1 and 2, which can be separated 
with a moist cloth. 

4-5 show the gluten bags, or neck- 
lace, containing the largest proportion 
of gluten. 

3 shows the beginning of the starch 

o n 

of the wheat-grain. 

This figure 5 is to show how much 
of the real nutritive part of the 
wheat is lost in the bran, for the.glu¬ 
ten will stick to the bran even down 
to a part of No. 5. 

The most important part of the 
gluten of wheat is its phosphoric 
acid; it is the phosphorus which 
feeds the brain and helps to consti¬ 
tute the bones. If you burn wheat 
into ashes, and take a hundred 
pounds of these ashes, separating 
each quality as the chemist does, it 
will read thus: — In a hundred 
pounds of the ashes of wheat there 
will be the third of one pound of sulphuric acid. Thus 



No. 1. The outer layer of bran. 
“ 2. The inner layer. 

“ 3. A membranous coat. 

“ 4. A layer of gluten cellfl. 

“ 5. The gluten bags, 
os. 6, 6. Starch cells. 


Chloride of sodium.a trace. 

Sulphuric acid. .33 

Oxide of iron. .79 

Silica or sand. 3.35 

Soda or salt. 3.44 

Lime. 3.90 

Magnesia. 12.20 

Potassa.. 29.97 

Phosphoric acid. 46.02 


100.00 


The bran of wheat is about three and a half per cent, of the en¬ 
tire grain. This bran contains 3.82 per cent, of phosphoric acid. 
Fine wheat flour contains only the twentieth part of 1 per cent.; 
that is, the bran of wheat contains fourteen times as much phos- 
42 



















G58 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


plioric acid as superfine flour. The author knows personally that 
the largest flour-maker within fifty miles of Yew York City has 
taken the premium for the most beautiful flour at various fail's, 
of high-sounding names, which had no phosphoric acid in it or 
anything else, but simply starch ; he keeps it in his establishment 
to show what beautiful flour he can turn out. He asks eighteen 
dollars a barrel for it, says it costs that; the object being to pre¬ 
vent any one from purchasing it, for a whole barrel of it would 
not make a ten-cent loaf of bread. As it has no gluten in it, it 
would not rise, nor would it contain any nourishment in it, being 
pure starch; the common people valuing flour by its whiteness. 
Hence it is that Graham bread, the black, unsightly, and sour 
bread of Germany, made of the whole grain of the wheat, and the 
ugly, heavy, sour loaves found in the sacks of Russian soldiers in 
the Crimea, are each more nutritious than the most beautiful 
■white bread ever found on an American table, because the bread 
named contains all the phosphates of the wheat. During the 
siege of Paris, in 1871, it was of vital importance to save every 
ounce of food, when even horses, dogs, and the very rats of the 
sewers had to be carefully preserved and cooked for food. .Under 
such circumstances, all the appliances of science and art and 
skill were brought into requisition to prevent the loss of a single 
pound of food, and to devise ways and means to make it go as far 
as possible. • 

It was found that there were in Paris eleven million pounds of 
grain, which, in the ordinary way of conversion into bread, would 
undergo a clear loss of three million two hundred and thirty thou¬ 
sand pounds of human nutriment, nineteen hundred, years ago 
the Romans considered the grinding of wheat to be wasteful, so 
they roasted the grain entire, ground-it, and made it into a paste' 
The Arabs of this day hull the wheat first by boiling or steam¬ 
ing. In England brown bread made of the whole product of the 
grain is considered a luxury ; they bake it twice a week. 

Four pounds of grain yield three pounds of flour, entailing a 
loss of twenty to thirty per cent. 

If the wheat-kernel is moistened the hull can be rubbed off at a 
loss of only five per cent.; then soak the kernel eight hours 
in tepid water, or until it can be crushed between the fingers 
easily. In this condition it takes up fifty per cent, of water. Run 
this through rollers to make a paste, cause this to ferment and 


THE BEST BREAD . 


659 


make into bread in the usual way; then all the nutriment of the 
bread is saved. 


CRACKED WHEAT, 

6 

or wheaten grits, is essentially the same material, only with the 
hull on; it is wheat broken up, each grain into several pieces; 
but, whether broken or not, let it be soaked several hours, then 
boiled until as soft as boiled rice, and eat with salt, or butter, or 
sugar, or syrup, or sweet milk. The whole grain requires a 
whole day’s boiling. 

All grains can be prepared in the same way, whether oats, 
barley, rye, or others; the point being to boil them to a proper 
softness; boil slow, take several hours ; all may be termed 

MUSH, 

as rye mush, wheat mush, etc. 


ELEMENTS OF GRAIN. 



Wheat. 

Rye. 

Oats. 

Carbon. 

. 46 

46 

50 

Oxygen. 

. 43 

44 

37 

Hydrogen. 

. 6 

6 ’ 

6 

Nitrogen.. 

. 2-b 

2- 

2 

O • 

Ashes. 

. 2 + 

2 

4 


It will be thus seen that the grains are pretty, much of the 
same elements. The nitrogen is the flesh-forming principle; 
the carbon gives warmth, but no actual nourishment, hence half 
of the grain warms us. Corn (Indian) lias more carbon than 
wheat, hence is more appropriate for cold weather. 

A very healthful bread for all persons with weak stomachs 
is to beat up flour in cold water to a proper consistence, put 
it into little pans, an inch deep of the batter, put in a hot stove 
and bake; it cannot sour, cannot get heavy, can be eaten cold or 
hot, and will keep for weeks in a dry cool place. The following 
remarks .on £\xxl bread, from a writer who understands the 
subject fully, merit special attention. It is sadly true that mul- 







060 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


titudes of people in tlie United States, at least half the popm 
lation, do not know what good bread and butter are. 

GOOD YEAST. 

Boil in a porcelain or copper-tinned kettle two large handfuls 
of hops, tied in a cloth, six large potatoes sliced thin in six quarts 
of water. When the potatoes are very soft skin them, and either 
rub through a colander or mash fine on a plate. Take out the 
hops; squeeze dry, and hang away for another time, as the} 7 can 
be used twice. Keep the water boiling, mix one and one-half pints 
of wheat flour to a smooth batter with cold water, and one table¬ 
spoonful of vinegar, two of brown sugar, and one teaspoonful of 
salt; mix in the mashed potatoes, stir all into the boiling water, 
and boil ten minutes. Turn into a six-quart tin pan. When 
milk-warm to the touch add one teacup of yeast. Let it rise over 
night, then put into a stone jug. 

This yeast will keep in a cellar, perfectly good, for six weeks. 
A large teacupful will make two large loaves of bread. Be sure 
to reserve a teacupful to raise the yeast with the next time. Al¬ 
ways scald the jug thoroughly and keep water in it overnight, 
with a tablespoonful of saleratus stirred into it. This will sweeten 
the jug. It takes a larger quantity of this yeast to raise bread, 
biscuit, or muffins than of distillery yeast, but the effect is quite 
as good. 

To make bread of first-rate quality, the .sponge should be made 
overnight. Bread that has been raised three times is much the 
best It is of a firm, even texture, has no fissures or cracks, and 
the slice presents an even surface. Here is a recipe that rarely 
fails: Take one quart of new milk, and add boiling water suffi¬ 
cient to make it warm to the touch. (Water can be substituted 
for the milk, but bread made without milk dries more rapidly.) 
Add one teaspoonful of salt, stir in three quarts of flour and one 
teacup of home-made yeast, or three tablespoonfuls of distillery 
yeast. Mix well together, then sprinkle flour all around the edges 
of the batter or sponge, leaving a small space in the middle un¬ 
covered. Set in a warm place to rise, covering with a pan. In 
summer the sponge will be ready to mould over before breakfast. 
Mix it up thick so that it can be kneaded well, and knead it half 
an hour or more. Chopping it with a chopping-knife addf to its 


THE BEST BREAD. 


6G1 


lightness and porosity. When well-kneaded sprinkle flour on the 
bottom of the pan thickly, put in the dough, and set it away for 
half an hour or more, but watch it closely. (Bread-making should 
be most carefully tended, as any neglect ruins the whole. If 
allowed to rise too much its sweetness is gone, and though saleratus 
will take away the acidity, its aroma and flavor are destroyed.) 
When light, turn out on the moulding-board and knead thoroughly ; 
divide into two loaves, reserving a portion for biscuit, so that the 
new-made loaves may not be cut that day. Mould well, put into 
the pans, let it rise in a warm place fifteen minutes, then bake in 
a hot oven. If the oven be hot, the bread will lose less weight in 
baking than when the oven is slack. The batter can be baked in 
the morning in the muffin-rings, and makes delicious breakfast, 
better than hot biscuit. 

Bread made with potatoes is very good. Boil three large pota¬ 
toes, well pared, or six good-sized ones ; rub them through a 
colander into your bread-pan. Binse them through the colander 
with a pint of boiling water; add one quart of milk. Stir in 
half a pint of flour, and when the liquor is cool enough add a tea¬ 
cup of home-made yeast; set it in a warm place. If this is done 
after dinner—using the potatoes left from the table—the sponge 
will be ready for more flour by eight or nine o’clock in the even¬ 
ing. Bow mix to a stiff batter, sprinkle flour over it, set to rise. 
In. the morning knead into a stiff dough, let it rise well, then 
knead again, put into pans, let it rise fifteen or twenty minutes, and 
bake in a hot oven. 

All bread, biscuit, or doughnuts raised with yeast should 
rise after being kneaded before they are baked. If put in the 
oven or fried directly they are never light. The dough has had 
no opportunity to recover its elasticity, and cannot be as good. 
Common-sized loaves of bread will bake in three-quarters of an 
hour, provided the oven is of proper heat. 

Palatable as good wheat-bread is, there is no doubt that eating 
it only is not conducive to health. Bye, Indian meal, and 
coarse flour make bread that is better adapted to the development 
of the muscles. Boston brown bread is much used, and is far 
better for young children than bread made of superfine flour. It 
is easily made : Take two quarts of Indian meal, sifted, one quart 
of rye meal or Graham flour, one large spoonful of salt, one tea¬ 
cup of molasses, one teacup of home-made yeast, or half the qiian- 


002 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


tity of brewers’ yeast. Mix with hot water as stiff as one can 
stir it, let it rise one hour, bake in deep earthen or iron pots, 
. which are made purposely. To avoid the thick crust produced by 
baking so long, boil it four hours and bake one, removing the 
cover before setting it into the oven. 

Good bread can never be made, however perfect all the mate¬ 
rials are, without three things: First, abundant kneading, or 
working; the best bread-makers work the dough the longest, or 
with the most vigorous use of the arm and knuckles. Second, 
the oven should be steadily hot, kept at about the same heat; this 
is the chief reason why the French bread is the best in the world ; 
they regulate the heat with a thermometer. 

--- 


ERYSIPELAS, 

Ok St. Anthony’s Fire, is Rose Fever, and depends on a bad state 
of the blood. It comes on with a chill, followed with fever, with 
a red eruption on the face, spreading like a slow fire, with sore¬ 
ness to the touch. There is some heat and some swelling. These 
may be limited or may extend all over the bod} 7 , with pimples 
which may break and eat away as in an eating sore or sloughing. 
If in the scalp, it induces inflammation of the brain and stupor 
and death. It seems to arise in many cases from breathing the 
effluvia of human bodies, as in jails, barracks, tenement-houses, 
and the like, in connection with inflammation. But always it 
is caused by bad blood. Treat it precisely as bilious fever. 
Lard, tallow, cold cream may be rubbed freely on the skin, not 
only on the erupted part, but several inches beyond; slippery- 
elm bark, or gum-arabic mucilage, or flax-seed tea, may also be 
used thus; these soothe ; to drive in, to suppress, is certain death ; 
if it is on the face, it is desirable .to prevent it from reaching the 
scalp; then interpose a blister plaster half an inch broad, or paint 
that much of the skin between the eruption and the scalp with 
nitrate of silver or collodion and live mainly on milk and rice. 
The water-cure treatment is to unload the rectum with an injec¬ 
tion ; stop eating; wet pack; then wash all over with tepid water; 




/ 


FEVERS. 663 

then cool; keep tepid compresses over' the erupted parts; in a 
day or two live on fruits, berries, and coarse bread. 

Homoeopathy gives aconite when there is much fever; if the 
eruption spreads like the rays of a star, give belladonna; rlius 
tox., if it tends to go towards the scalp; arsenicum, if strength 
declines ; pulsatilla, if the spots are of a bluish red; nux vom., if 
in knee or joint; bryonia, if the joints are affected; sulphur, if the 
case is obstinate; sulphur and arsenicum, when there are ulcer¬ 
ations. 


Z(X) 


FEVERS. 


Fever is increased heat of the body, with dry skin, quick pulse, 
diminution of all discharges from the body, weakness, failure of 
appetite, and in many cases a disturbed brain. It is essentially a 
poison of the blood ; there are matters in it which ought not to be 
there, and the general remedy is to get rid of that poison by di¬ 
minishing the quantity of the blood as soon as possible, for the 
less poison there is in the system, the less injury; and if the 
whole blood contains a pint of poison, the loss of half the blood 
would leave but half a pint of poison. This is done by 
Laxative medicines, as salts and castor oil. 


Purgatives, as by calomel, aloes, rhubarb, etc. 


Diaphoretics, or sweating remedies. 
Cold drinks. 

Warm baths. 

Emetics. 

The principal forms of fever'are:— 
Bilious. 

Cerebro-spinal. 

Fever and ague, or 
Intermittent. 

Malarial. 

Pernicious. 

Remittent. 


Relapsing. 

Scarlet. 

Spotted. 

Typhoid. 

Typhus. 

Yellow. 

Dengue. 


% 


BILIOUS FEVER, 

or remittent, is accompanied by headache, sick stomach, quick 
pulse, hot dry skin, coated tongue, and a great variety of other 




664 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


minor symptoms ; these symptoms increase in violence, then abate 
in the course of twenty hours; after au interval they become 
more severe, hence called remittent or mitigating.' If the sys¬ 
tem is in an exhausted condition, the constitution radically im¬ 
paired, the tendency is to fall into the typhoid type. The best treat¬ 
ment in the Allopathic system is to give at first a dose of Epsom 
salts, an ounce at least, in a pint of warm, water, or two ounces of 
castor oil, and repeat every three hours until the bowels are freely 
acted On ; then give a liver pill. 

If at any time there is much distress at the stomach, as nausea 
or vomiting, if it is bitter, drink warm water, a teacupful every 
five minutes until the vomiting is increased, and continue this as 
long as what is vomited is bitter; if no bitterness in the vomiting, 
place a mustard plaster over the stomach and let it remain until 
relieved. In eight hours after the liver pill has been given take 
a grain of quinine every hour in two or three tablespoons of water, 
with a teaspoonful of vinegar ; stir it well and give it time to dis¬ 
solve thoroughly; a good plan would be to put sixteen grains of 
quinine in half a pint of water, with a tablespoonful Of vinegar, 
which is used to dissolve the quinine more thoroughly. Take this 
quinine every hour for two days, except when sleeping; do not 
wake the patient to give it, but when he lias slept give two or 
three tablespoons, if he has slept two or three hours, at the first 
dose after sleeping. If at the end of two days the appetite is not 
returning and the tongue is not clearing off and the fever is not 
lessening to a hundred beats of the pulse or less in a minute, take 
a liver pill and proceed as before. 

When the patient begins to get well, indicated by returning 
appetite, the diet should be light, at five hours' interval, bread and 
butter and tea, or soup with the grease skimmed off, and bread crusts 
broken into it, or gruel and bread; as dessert, some fruits or 
berries, stewed if raw cannot be had, with lean meat or poultry 
‘ once a day. During the fever ice can be eaten as freely as desired 
at any time. If ice cannot be had, drink the coldest water, a 
swallow at a time, an interval of half a minute at each swallow. If 
half a glass is drunk continuously the thirst is not so much 
assuaged as by four or five swallows, and the stomach becomes full 
and uneasy; sometimes it is better to satiate the thirst with some 
hot tea, when ice cannot be had. 

If there is headache with high fever, put cold compresses on the 


FEVERS. 


665 


forehead, renewed every three minutes until relieved; if hands 
burn, dabble them in cold water; if the feet are hot, let wet cloths 
be drawn over them, or dip them in water cold or warm, and let 
them be exposed to the air; the evaporation cools them rapidly 
and is very grateful. Sometimes it is very comforting to let the 
patient slowly suck a lemon, or to have a glass of lemonade, or 
vinegar and water sweetened. 

HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 

If the skin is hot take the cold wet sheet pack, and repeat until 
the temperature is natural, and repeat as often as the fever begins 
to rise. Keep hot-water bottles to cold feet, or keep them in hot 
water if necessary; if there is prostration, sponge the body with 
tepid water ; but a cold pack. If pain anywhere apply cold com¬ 
presses or hot fomentations, as may be most agreeable, until re¬ 
lieved. Cold compresses on scalp, if the head aches, or pour cold 
water, if severe or hard to remove. The great general principle in 
the hydropathic treatment in all fevers is to bathe when the fever 
is at the highest, or a few minutes before. If the fever is abating, 
note the time and wait until it returns,, eating nothing mean¬ 
while. Some prefer getting into a hogshead of cold water, keep¬ 
ing the head under as long as the breath can be held, and 
repeating the process every few minutes. Let the patient keep 
dabbling in the water all the time, until he feels comfortable ; 
then get out, be wiped dry quickly, dress, and walk about or go to 
some light work, to keep up the circulation ; or pour water on the 
patient’s head as it is extended over the edge of the bed, a large 
tub being under ; pour from a pitcher or bucket, a foot above the 
head, and keep it up until the patient feels comfortable, pouring 
from one part to another ; not all the time on the same sjx>t; but 
if the fever tends to return, renew the pouring until it is effectually 
dissipated. 

This pouring removes congestion, it equalizes the circulation, 
the glands of the body are relieved of their load, so as to be ca¬ 
pable of working, when they begin at once to carry off the wastes 
of the system as effectively as if worked off by medicines. Com¬ 
mon bilious or gastric fever, as it is called, is treated by the 
homoeopathic system with belladonna, alternated with aconite ; 
nux vomica, when there is a bitter taste in the mouth; charno- 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR . 


666 

milla, if the tongue is red at the edges ; pulsatilla, if the tongue is 
whitish; ipecacuanha, if there is nausea; digitalis, if there is de¬ 
bility ; arsenieum, if the preceding fail or the case is a severe one 
at the first. Diet should be of soft food, no hard meats or vege¬ 
tables ; gruels, farina, starch, beef-tea, and the like. Carefully 
avoid exposure to heat or cold or fatigue or sudden changes. 
Let all forms of exercise be quiet, deliberate, never carried to 
fatigue in any event; be regular in eating and sleeping; use no 
stimulants in any form whatever. 

CEEEBEO-SPIXAL FEVEE, 

X, 

sometimes called cerebro-spinal meningitis or spotted fever, or 
petechial fever, because little pimples are sometimes seen on the 
skin similar to the spots in typhus fever. This disease appeared 
in France in 1310, next in 1482, very fatal in Rome and Madrid 
in 1580. Sydenham described it in 1661. In Paris in 1814. In 
1832 it was first spoken of in France as an epidemic cerebro¬ 
spinal meningitis. It first appeared in the United States in Mas¬ 
sachusetts in 1806, gradually extending to New York and Phila¬ 
delphia. Between 1840 and 1850 it spread over large tracts of 
country in the Southern and Western States. It became preva¬ 
lent again in New York and Pennsylvania in 1863. 

SYMPTOMS. 

f 

It comes on suddenly, with chilliness and terrible pain in the 
head, extending to the back of the head, with nausea and vomit¬ 
ing, delirium, spasms of the muscles of the back and neck, and 
death when not relieved. The young have general convulsions. 
The whole surface of the body is painful to the touch; the tongue 
may continue natural, but grows yellow. Sometimes there is a 
breaking out on the lipS, skin from 104 to 110; some die within 
three or four hours, many in twelve or fifteen; the danger les¬ 
sens after that; exudations are found at the base of the brain 
after death, showing that it is a disease of “congestion” which 
see. It is not contagious, and seems to result from a bad atmos¬ 
phere, made bad by human emanations and miasmatic influences; 
the tendency is to a typhoid type of disease. Empty the bowels 
at once with an enema, then give a liver pill; if debility is a 


FEVERS. 


607 


prominent symptom give two grains of quinine every two hours 
until the pill has acted two or three times ; if it does not act itself 
in twelve hours, give a tablespoonful of salts or castor-oil every 
hour until it does act, then two grains of quinine every hour for 
eight hours. Leeching behind the ears, or a mustard plaster, 
four inches by six, over the back of the neck, lengthways down¬ 
wards ; rub the body well, rapidly and persistently, with red pep¬ 
per and brandy, keep hot bottles to the feet if cold, do all that is 
possible to keep the whole skin soft and warm. If the quinine does 
not seem to rouse the circulation and strength, give from thirty drops 
•to a teaspoonful of tincture of cantharides every hour, or tincture 
of camphor; remember that unless the system is aroused the 
patient will die. 

PERNICIOUS FEVER. 

Congestive fever, malignant fever, malarial fever, are really 
but more virulent forms of fever arising; from miasm; vellow 
fever being a still higher grade. The fundamental principles of 
treatment are essentially the same—to remove the congestion of 
parts, to equalize the circulation, to relieve the system of its load 
of poison : the chief attention -should be directed to these things 
first of all. In all the forms of fever above named, as in bilious 
fever, first unload the bowels by an enema or laxative, give two 
of the liver pills, and, two hours after, give from one to four 
grains of quinine every two hours; when the body is cold and 
chilly, give hot baths; when burning with fever, cool off with 
wet compresses; if great pain anywhere and no fever, apply 
mustard plasters ; if pain and fever, apply compresses to the full¬ 
est extent possible, so as to reduce the symptoms, and bring about 
a natural condition. Malarial fever, and that with typhoid symp¬ 
toms, are successfully treated as bilious fever—only a grain more 
of quinine at each dose. 

YELLOW FEVER 

is essentially bilious fever aggravated, and should be treated on 
the same general principles: unload the rectum by enemas; clear 
out the bowels with salts or oil, and then give two liver pills, fol¬ 
lowed every hour by three grains of quinine for two or three 
days, if the patient is improving; if not, give two more liver 


6G8 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


pills, and continue the quinine; the object being to unload the 
system of the excessive bile, and to support it with the quinine 
and a “ light diet. 5 ’ 

RELAPSING 

Fever is recently known by that name: it is bilious fever modi¬ 
fied, and to be treated on the same general principles. It is a 
continued fever, attended with chills, shivers, headache, nausea, 
vomiting, and yellow eyes and skin, stomach tender, bowels cos¬ 
tive, urine high-colored; full, fast, jumping pulse; pains, rest¬ 
lessness, and sometimes delirium. First described in Scotland in 
1817; but it appeared in Dublin in 1739, in the Crimea in 1855, 
and in 1870 in Hew York and Philadelphia. Ten out of a hun¬ 
dred died of it in Pussia, three per cent, in England. To be 
treated as bilious fever. 


DENGUE, 

or Break-bone fever, so affects the system as to make a person 
feel as if every bone or joint in his body was sore, or broken. 
Dr. Push first noticed it in 1780. It is bilious fever, with a cold 
settling in the joints, a combination of fever and rheumatism, and 
is readily cured as bilious fever. 


■-C<50-- 

HEADACHE 

Is from a great variety of causes, hence the means of cure are 
various; in children it should be promptly attended to, as it 
may soon result in water on the brain or other form of dangerous 
inflammation. If it is a throbbing headache there is high fever; 
if sharp pains, it is inflammation, showing the congestion of the 
small arteries ; if a dull heavy sensation, the veins are congested; 
in either case notice the feet first, and if they are cold put them 
in warm water, making it hotter and hotter from time to time, 
until it is nearly as hot as can be well borne. The vessel should be 
deep enough to allow the water to come well up towards the 
knees; have a blanket around the body, as with the hot foot- 




HEADACHE. 


GG9 


bath, perspiration may be induced. If the bowels are costive, 
give an enema or two tablespoons of castor-oil. 

If the head is hot, apply ice-cold compresses freely. 

Take pounded ice one part, fine salt half a part, put it in a 
little silk bag, lay it on the aching part for a minute; it makes 
the skin excessively cold, whitens it. Put two tablespoonfuls 
each of spirits of hartshorn and spirits of camphor on two table¬ 
spoons of salt, put them in a bottle, and keep closed ; pour a little 
into the bottom of a teacup on a rag, and apply the rag to the 
head ; wet it again as soon as dry. 

If from an acid stomach, or where there is much wind, put 
two teaspoonfuls of powdered charcoal in half a glass of water, 
stir quickly, and drink it down. In most cases a warm-water 
emetic is the best remedy, as it empties the stomach, which is near¬ 
ly always the cause. Drink a teacupful of tepid water, until the 
stomach is so full that a feather or finger will induce vomiting; 
then take an injection, followed by a liver pill; eat nothing until 
very hungry, and then for a day or two live mostly on coarse 
bread and fruits, or follow the fruit diet. 

Homoeopaths give belladonna for periodical headache, followed 
with platina when the pain is in the temples ; mereurius when 
belladonna fails ; sepia, in the worst forms; glonoine when from 
exposure to the sun ; silicea when the eyes seem to be ready to 
protrude ; rhus tox., when pains are shooting, tearing ; veratrum, 
when there is chilliness; colocynth, in nervous headache ; thuja, 
if chronic ; cimicifuga, if there is a bursting feeling in the head. 

The water-cure remedy, and which will relieve almost all 
cases, is to put the feet in warm or hot water, cold compresses to 
the head, an enema with hot fomentations to the abdomen, which 
are flannels dipped in hot water ; squeeze out a little, and lay on 
the part; renewed every five or ten minutes. 

If there has been suppression give warm hip-baths effectively, 
and keep the feet warm ; if nausea, drink warm water freely, or 
pour cold water on the head and neck. If from sudden disuse of 
any stimulants, keep quiet; use hot foot-baths several times a 
day, with cold compresses to the head at the same moment, with 
a diet of fruits, berries, and coarse bread. 


CTO 


HAL VS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


SICK HEADACHE 

is always a distressing malady, occurring at intervals. The first 
and best cure is to put the feet and legs in hot water; after 
having taken an enema, drink warm water until copious vomiting 
has been induced; go to bed, and take a liver pill, as it is always 
connected with biliousness or a torpid liver. You are sick at 
stomach, and the head aches; almost always there are cold feet and 
constipation. The hydropathic and homoeopathic remedies are 
those mainly for common headache. The wisdom of those who 
are subject to this malady is to notice what, in them, is the very 
first symptom of its approach, and attack it at once, thus prevent¬ 
ing it, to a considerable extent. The quickest plan is to eat 
nothing, and at the end of five hours take a liver pill, go to bed, 
and wake up well enough to feel hungry, then follow a fruit diet 
for several days. Sometimes an attack is cut short by two or 
three teaspoonfuls of spirits of turpentine. Some forms are cured 
by putting both hands of another person on the head, carrying 
them down to the shoulders, and then slanting them off from the 
body, bringing the hands back to the top of the head, farther 
away from the body than when they went downwards; toothache 
has been cured in this way. It costs nothing but faith to try it. 

A HEADACHE SNUFF. 

Take lundy-foot and black rappee, half an ounce; powdered 
asarabaeca, two drachms; a dozen drops of water ; mix well, put 
in a bottle with a Tonquin bean, and let it rest for a few days; 
take out a spoonful or two at a time, crush it to a powder with a 
knife on a piece of paper, and put it in a box to use as a pinch 
several times a day; it frequently relieves headache and other 
discomforts about the eyes and nose, causing them to water 
freely; or take a teaspoonful of the ammoniated tincture of 
valerian every few hours until relieved ; or 

Take one-twelfth of a grain of the alcoholic extract of mix 
vomica, twice a day, increased to a fourth of a grain in the course 
of a week; continue that for one week, then diminish in the 
same way. 

The tartrate of iron and potash, twenty grains twice a day, in 


DYSENTERY. 


C71 

mint water, with chloroform liniment rubbed on the sides of the 
temples twice a day, has cured cases of half a dozen or more 
rears’ standing. 

•f O • 

--- 


DYSENTERY 

Is an inflammation of the lining of the lower bowels, the rectum 
mainly, the minute arteries are so congested that they throw out 
blood which is discharged with tormina, and tenesmus, as the 
physicians term it, meaning a very distressing straining. There is 
a feeling as if you wanted to go to stool, but when you get there 
there is nothing to come away but a little blood with a painful 
bearing down. Sometimes there is nausea and vomiting. It is 
brought on by indigestible food, by sudden changes from heat to 
cold, by rapid checking of perspiration, and by miasmatic and 
other bad airs. Sometimes whole neighborhoods suffer with it. 

There are a great variety of cures for this distressing complaint, 
and often all are unavailing. Some of the more reliable follow: • 
Go to bed, take one of the liver pills, and repeat every two hours 
until the actions and straining cease; at the same time, if the dis¬ 
tress at the rectum is great, give an injection of thirty grains of 
laudanum in half a glass of cool water, and retain it. Take sixty 
drops or a teaspoonful of the following: laudanum, essence of 
ginger, tincture of camphor, capsicum, and rhubarb ; or take 
twenty drops every half hour until relieved. 

Clarify over the fire, like honey, some butter which has just 
been gathered from the churn, without salt or washing. Skim 
off the milky particles after melting, take two tablespoons every 
six hours until relieved ; or, 

Drink strong tea made of the root of the blackberry bush, a 
teacupful every three hours. Add a tablespoonful of loaf sugar 
and half a teaspoonful of ground spice to a fresh egg which has 
been w r ell beaten up in a bowl, then add a teacupful of sweet 
milk, stir it well, and take a teaspoonful every ten minutes; or, 

One tablespoonful of common salt, two of vinegar in half a 
pint of water, take a wine-glass of it every half hour; if there is 
much nausea, put a mustard plaster over the stomach so as to 
enable the patient to retain it. 




672 


nALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


Dysentery has been cured by swallowing ice in as large pieces 
as practicable, to the fullest extent; to preserve the ice during 
hot nights, when it is scarce or has to be brought from a distance, 
put it in a large pitcher or china Or stone vessel, in as large 
pieces as convenient, cover the mouth with a clean cloth and put 
the vessel between two large feather pillows. When some ice 
is wanted, obtain it with as short exposure to the air as possible. 

Families in the country, who have no ice-houses of their own, 
would do well to have on hand a flannel bag holding a peck or 
more, have another one larger, so that three inches thickness 
of bird or chicken feathers can be stuffed in between the two. 
The tops may be closed like the draw of a reticule; fill this with 
ice, and in a cool cellar it will keep a week. 

Creosote is a valuable remedy: ten drops with thirty drops or 
half a teaspoonful of vinegar, two grains of quinine, w r ell mixed 
in two tablespoons of water; one teaspoonful every three hours 
until relieved. It is almost a specific. . 

Raw beef, minced up fine, .a tablespoon every three hours, 
eating nothing else but ice; it is also good in the diarrhoea of 
children; has been thus used in Russia since 1815, and recently 
with success in this country ; or, 

Take pussy wood, called Indian clover, boil the leaves, which 
abound in August and September, in neAV milk, and drink half a 
pint every three hours, eating and drinking nothing else; or, 
Take Indian corn, burn it like coffee, grind it, then prepare 
as coffee and drink one teacupful every three hours until re¬ 
lieved ; or, 

One ounce of glycerine in five ounces of flax-seed tea, or gum- 
arabic water, as an enema, twice a day; besides, take it internally 
thus: one and a half ounces of glycerine in four ounces of w r ater; 
give a tablespoon every three hours; or, 

Chimaphila maculata, or spotted winter-green,' formerly called 
pyrola maculata, or pipsissewa or wild arsenic; the leaves have 
a white, longitudinal stripe; make a strong decoction of the 
leaves and take one or two tablespoons every two or three hours, 
according to the violence of the disease. 

Some prefer one drachm of sulphate of soda, forty drops of 
laudanum, in eight tablespoonfuls of water—cinnamon water is 
better ; give a tablespoonful every three hours. 

Homeopathy gives aconite if there is inflammatory fever; 


MALIGNANT PUSTULE. 


673 


then chamomilla if the heat and thirst are great, with restless¬ 
ness ; pulsatilla, if there is a disturbed stomach; ipecac, if stools 
are slimy; if there is violent colic, colocynth. carbo. veg. in des¬ 
perate cases, and phosphorus during convalescence. 

At water-cures reliance is had on injections first, then a wet 
sheet pack when there is high fever; drink moderately of cold 
water; keep the whole abdomen constantly covered with a cold 
compress, renewed every ten minutes, until the heat and swelling 
subside. Ice-water injections may be repeated if grateful to the 
patient. If the fever is very high, take a hip-bath of fifty 
degrees. 

Children take an injection and are then washed with tepid 
water three times a day, with constant cold compresses on the 
abdomen until the heat becomes natural; drinking cold or iced 
water or ice, two tablespoons at a time. Keep the bowels free 
with injections every twelve hours. 


C 00 


MALIGNANT PUSTULE 

Is a little pimple which sometimes appears instantaneously about 
the head, face, or lip, or eyelids, or nose; it comes with an in¬ 
stantaneous, sharp, stinging sensation, as if from the bite of some 
insect, which it most probably is ; for four or five hours there is 
but little change ; meanwhile a little vesicle appears around the bot¬ 
tom of the pimple, breaks inside, sends the poison into the sys¬ 
tem, the skin swells, inflames, becomes discolored, and death en¬ 
sues in a day or two, sometimes in a few hours, with all the symp¬ 
toms of erysipelas in the head. 

This malady is rare ; only a few cases have occurred .in this 
country ; the life might be saved if the pimple was cut out with 
a knife, with a scoop of half an inch in diameter; or if a red- 
hot iron or knitting-needle were plunged into the pimple and 
pushed down half an inch. 

As soon as the smart or sting is felt, it should be dabbled with a 
soft rag dipped in hartshorn, kept up for an hour. 

43 




674 


BALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


QUINSY 

Is inflammatory sore throat, causing the tonsils to swell and soon 
become painful, with difficulty of swallowing; pains dart about 
the ears, and there is headache and thirst, caused by cold; by 
cooling off too soon after being heated, or having a cold wind 
blow on the head for some time ; it often destroys life: Give an 
enema at once, and then a brisk cathartic of two full tablespoons 
of salts repeated every two hours, until the bowels act freely ; or 
three or four tablespoons of castor-oil. 

Keep the body warm, drink all the hot teas needed, but eat no¬ 
thing for a day or two; keep the feet warm, or bathe them in hot wa¬ 
ter freely; gargles may be used, such as alum water, infusion of 
wliite-oak bark, but free purgation ought to be promptly employed. 

Hydropathists rely on wet linen compresses applied closely around 
the throat, without dribbling, renewed every five minutes or less, 
according to the severity of the attack ; take also frequent small 
draughts of ice-water, a sitz-bath or a dripping sheet, in either 
case followed by being wrapped up in a warm dry blanket to 
cause perspiration, and then the patient is safe ; if the heat about 
the throat is very great, use pounded ice, so as to make a pad, 
and apply it to the throat. Homoeopathy regards as one disease 
ulcerated sore throat, quinsy, malignant, putrid, gangrenous sore 
throat, and malignant scarlatina; give aconite and follow with 
belladonna. Pulsatilla will answer in mild cases ; nux vomica, 
if there are large amounts of phlegm ; mercurius, if ulcers are 
seen; acid nit., if these ulcers are painful; arsenicum, if there is 
great prostration; rhus, in extreme cases. The diet should be of 
sago, gruel, boiled rice ; if weak, give beef-tea. 

Other remedies are used beneficially, from ten to thirty drops 
of tincture of belladonna every three or four hours, until relieved. 

Others grease the throat well and keep it covered with a thick 
coat of common tar plastered over a cloth, to within a quarter of 
an inch of the edge ; the oil is beneficial, besides preventing the 
tar from sticking. • 



HOARSENESS. 


675 


HOARSENESS 

Is caused by phlegm.attached to the voice organs; if that phlegm 
is tenacious, it sticks close', and the person can scarcely speak 
above the breath without a great effort; making public speeches, 
under such circumstances, has often put such a strain on the fra¬ 
gile vocal cords, or rather plates, as to induce inflammation, and 
strainings which have ruined the voice for life, if not followed by 
fatal results; the same also with singers; no one should ever 
speak or sing •when every word is an effort. If the phlegm is loose 
as in the breaking up of a cold, there is the hoarseness proper; it 
is sometimes relieved by cutting off a lemon at the end, then work 
a little loaf sugar into it with a spoon-handle, making a kind of 
strong lemon syrup ; in default of the lemon, honey and vinegar, 
half and half, is a good substitute. Or a teaspoonful of freshly- 
scraped horse-radish root, four ounces of warm water, let it stand 
four hours, add equal quantities of syrup and vinegar, stir, and 
take one teaspoonful at a time. Sometimes hoarseness is speedily 
relieved by breathing the fumes of warm vinegar and water ; or 
hot water from a teapot spout; be careful not to draw the hot 
water into the throat. Homoeopaths give for temporary hoarse¬ 
ness, pulsatilla if voice is almost lost; mercurius afterwards, or 
if there is sweating at night; nux vom. if ever there is a dry, 
tiresome cough; rlius tox., if difficult breathing and burning in 
throat; ehamomilla, if phlegm is profuse ; chronic hoarseness, 
hepar sulphuris. Sometimes hoarseness is relieved thus :—Take 
the whites of tw T o eggs, beat them thoroughly with one table¬ 
spoonful of powdered loaf sugar, grate in some nutmeg, add a 
pint of tepid water, stir it well and drink one or two tablespoons 
every hour until relieved. In addition keep warm, with free 
bowels. The lemon and white su«;ar above-named was a favor- 
ite prescription with General Jackson in his last illness, when he 
was troubled greatly with hoarseness and cough. 


670 


IIAL L'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


EYES . 

Are prematurely ruined by using them too much after sun¬ 
down, by artificial light, especially in scrofulous persons. Chil¬ 
dren under twelve years of age should never be allowed to read 
or sew after sundown; nor persons of any age over an hour or 
two at a time, nor until after sunrise in the morning. 

1. Never sit with the light directly opposite the eyes; let it 
come slantingly over the.left shoulder. • 

2. Strain the eyes as little as possible ; the instant you find that 
you have to wink your eyes in order to see clearly, that instant 
get up and do something which either requires you to look at 
things a great distance off, or at comparatively large objects 
near at hand. 

3. When the eyes are weary, a great relief is experienced by 
closing them five or ten minutes, or even by looking at objects 
for that time a hundred yards or mile away, or at the clouds. 

4. Never use the eyes in reading or sewing before day in the 
morning; the glare of the artificial light from the darkness of 
the long hours of sleep is most pernicious. 

5. Never look at a glaring object for a second; many persons 
have injured their eyes for life by attempting to look at the shining 
sun. 

6. Never sleep so that when you first open your eyes in the 
morning a window will face them with the full light of day. 

7. The instant you find there is a strain on the eye sufficient to 
attract your attention, at any age or any time of day, lay down 
your book or your work. 

WHEN TO USE SPECTACLES. 

It does immeasurably more harm to try and put off the evil 
day of using spectacles, than to employ them promptly as soon as 
nature calls for them. 

When you find yourself instinctively adjusting your paper or 
book so as to receive a better light, you need spectacles. 

When you find that habitually you put yourself near an open 
window or door to read more comfortably, you need glasses. 


EYES. 


677 


If the eyes are easily fatigued, requiring you to shut them for 
rest, or there is a sense of effort to make out the letters in print, 
or to take the stitches in sewing, spectacles are needed. 

CHOICE OF GLASSES. 

Some think one pair of glasses is as good as another. It is a 
great mistake; some glass is more easily scratched than another 
kind, being softer. Never purchase glasses on the street; they 
are mostly discarded ones from a variety of imperfections. 

Glasses are the last thing to be bought for cheapness. 

Brazilian glasses or pebbles are best, because they are of na¬ 
ture’s make, and are the hardest in the world, most difficult to be 
scratched, hence you will not want a higher power so soon. 

Always note the • number of your glass and the date of first 
using it; if lost, then you can easily tell the seller what number 
you want. 

Get a lower number, one with a nearer focus, one more bulg¬ 
ing, on the same conditions of getting the first, weariness or 
winking the eyes so as to see more clearly. 

Glasses should be washed in cold water once a day, wiped with 
a linen fabric and then with buckskin, never with paper; it is 
hard and scratches them. 

If the eyes are matted in the morning, endeavor to open them 
in warm water; if not to be had, apply the saliva to the lids, it 
dissolves the hard matter instantly, when it should be rubbed off 
with the balls of the fingers ; the nail should never touch it, nor 
be required to free any accumulation on the eyelids or in their 
corners, as it tears the most tender surface of the lashes and lids. 

If the eye is blackened by a blow and the parts are discolored, 
apply warm fomentations, renewing the cloths every three min¬ 
utes ; if there is inflammation, use cold compresses; in either 
case until entire relief. 

Sty on the eye ; never touch it; do nothing for it, but begin at 
once to adopt a fruit diet; it may expedite a cure by taking an 
enema, or swallowing a good dose of salts or oil. 

A multitude of washes and ointments are used to cure sore 
eyes. Unless you are under the special care of a professed ocu¬ 
list, never allow anything to go near your eye, let alone into it, 
stronger than your own saliva, or tepid, soft or rain water; but 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


6 >ro 

(b 

keep the bowels active, three times in two days; follow the fruit 
diet; be out of doors a great deal, keep a clean skin, feet warm, 
and avoid all reading and sewing until the eyes get well; this is 
intended to apply to common 

SOEE EYES, 

which are always a sign of had blood. The only rational mode 
of cure is to purify the blood, to get up a high state of general 
health; any different course is always unwise, and is a waste of 
time. If the eyes have to be used at night, and there is a sense 
of feverishness or weakness, or if they water, bathe them freely 
in cold* water ; either put the whole face in the water, or flap up 
the water against the closed eye with the hand, not striking the 
ball with the hand or fingers, but making a cup of the palm of 
the hand, striking the ends of the fingers against the corner of the 
eye-bone. 

The eyesight is impaired for life, and sometimes fatal amau¬ 
rosis is induced by the instinctive effort of the eye to maintain 
a steady focus when the person is reading, while walking, or 
on horseback, or in vehicles. The simple fact should restrain 
every intelligent person from such a ruinous practice, or from 
'doing such a thing for ten minutes in any day. 

-C- 

STAMMERING. 

Any person of small force- of character can cure himself of 
stammering in a very short time, as it is a purely nervous disease, 
a kind of St. "V itus’ dance of the tongue; more nervous power 
is sent there than it can use up. 

The veriest stammerer can commit to memory a speech or piece 
of poetry, and, getting up before an audience, can repeat it accu¬ 
rately without hesitation, because, while part of the nervous energy 
is used in enunciation, another part is expended in the attempt to 
remember. 

A stammerer can speak without halting in five minutes if at 
every syllable he will strike his finger or foot against an object, 




COLD FEET. 


679 


because tlie nervous current is sent out in two directions, not in 
one strong flow; or lie can read or talk without difficulty if he 
will aim to enunciate every syllable, nay every letter, vowel and 
consonant, after the manner of the beautiful Spanish tongue. It 
is simply the practice of deliberation; begin by tapping the fin¬ 
ger against the person at each syllable and. at the instant of its 
enunciation. If a knitting-needle is thrust through a stammerer’s 
tongue he. is cured in an instant, but remains cured only until 
the tongue gets well. 


• -- 

COLD FEET. 

If the feet are habitually cold, or are easily made cold enough 
to attract the attention unpleasantly, the general health is not 
good, and never can be good until the defect is remedied; it 
shows that the circulation is not vigorous enough to carry the 
blood to the farthest extremity of the system. The gnarled oak 
of a century begins to die at the farthest twig, and so does man. 

The feet must be kept heated by the fire within; holding them 
to the fire or over a register, or having them on a hot brick or 
footstone habitually, is only a temporary expedient. 

In the first place, aim to keep up the “ general health,” which 
article turn to. The feet must be kept scrupulously clean, should 
be washed every morning in cold water, that is, dipped in cold 
water for an instant, both at once, then wipe well, the soles es¬ 
pecially wipe hard and fast; at night dip them both in w T arm 
water for five minutes, ankle deep, then in cold, to come above 
the toes for a quarter of a minute, rub as before, put the feet in 
warmed slippers and get into bed, having the soles rubbed most 
vigorously; the cold water promotes reaction, while the frequent 
wetting and rubbing the soles keeps the pores from being closed 
up, and there they are much the largest of the whole body. 

Some feet are kept more comfortably warm with woollen socks, 
others with cotton, others again with two thin pair ; each must 
notice for himself. 

Some wear ground mustard or red pepper next the soles, but 
the only real remedy is to obtain better general health. When- 




680 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


ever the feet are noticed to be uncomfortably cold in the bouse, 
go direct to the fire; the quickest and best way to warm cold 
feet is to draw off the stockings and bold them to a hot stove or 
blazing fire, rubbing the soles and between the toes until most 
perfectly dry. This should be done by all men who are out of 
doors and from home most of the day, first washing them, then 
wear another pair of socks for the remainder of the evening. 

It is a filthy practice and most hurtful to sit around the fire for 
a whole evening in the same boots and shoes worn for several 
hours before ; this makes 


. STINKING FEET, 

because the perspiration condenses, is mixed with the dirt that 
will get in while walking, and then there is decomposition, a rot¬ 
ting and a noisome smell. Bad colds are often got and a habit of 
cold feet set up, by persons walking to their stores, then sitting 
down with their feet on a plank floor or thin bit of carpet; the 
feet should be always well wiped and rest on a soft woollen rug of 
some kind; it greatly aids in keeping warmth to the feet. 

Another mischievous plan is to pull off a shoe and thrust it into 
a cold slipper. In fire-time of year the slippers should be always 
well warmed ; at other times, they should be placed in the sun, 
or should not be put on for a moment or two after the shoe is 
pulled off, to allow some of the dampness of perspiration to escape 
by evaporation. These seem small things and may be called old 
womanish, but it is better to spend a few minutes every day in 
attention to these things than to have cold feet for the remainder 
of life, or be troubled witli rheumatism and limping and hobbling 
about the house in one’s old age. Besides, persons who have 
cold feet habitually are greatly more liable to take colds, and are 
greatly more susceptible to any form of disease which may be 
prevalent at the time. When any person’s feet are habitually 
cold he may be said, with literal truth, to have begun to die. 

Habitually cold feet indicate always a serious want of good 
general health, and the most certain and efficient means to get 
rid of so uncomfortable a symptom is to build up the general 
health, as pointed out in that article. 


t 


DIARRHEA. 


681 



DI AKRHCEA 


Is so common a disease that it is desirable to give several reme¬ 
dies, as the attendant circumstances are different in different per¬ 
sons. The first best remedy is quietude; every step taken aggra¬ 
vates the malady; if persons must be on their feet, a piece of 
woollen flannel, over a foot broad and long enough to be double 
in front, so as to keep the abdomen warm, should be bound 
tightly around the body; this is a great support, and keeps the 
intestines more quiet, their incessant and active motion being the 
essence of the disease; this, with rest in bed and a diet of boiled 
rice and boiled milk every five hours, and nothing else, will cure 
ordinary looseness of bowels. 

In more decided or urgent cases, go to bed, eat nothing, and 
take a liver pill; if the bowels do not cease to act in three hours 
take another. 

In milder cases a teaspoonful each of salt and vinegar in a 
tablespoon of water, repeated every hour until relieved, is all-suf¬ 
ficient. 

Blackberry cordial, or tea made of the blackberry root, made 
strong and drunk freely at two hours’ interval, is a good household 
remedy ; or one ounce each of rhubarb root powdered and cinna¬ 
mon leaves, sixty grains of capsicum, that is, pulverized red 
pepper, pour on a pint of boiling water, let it soak four hours, 
strain through a cloth, add half an ounce of bicarbonate of pot- 
ash and as much essence of cinnamon, stir in four heaping table¬ 
spoonfuls of pulverized loaf sugar, then add as much brandy as will 
equal the wdiole ; one or two tablespoonfuls every three hours 


until relieved. 

Homoeopaths give dulcamara in summer from* cold; if not 
effectual, bryonia, followed with antimo. crud.. in six hours;* 
china, if the looseness arises from indigestion or too much fruit, 
or drinking fluids soon after eating berries, especially if attacked 
in the night. Give rheum, if there is a sour smell from the defe¬ 
cations ; mercurius, if from a chill. Diet, avoid all acids and sour 
or hard food—beef-tea, rice, sago, arrowroot, tapioca, flax-seed 


tea, etc. 


682 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


Hydropathy advises abstinence from all food except farinas 
and boiled rice, with sitz-baths, cold compresses, or liot fomenta¬ 
tions to the abdomen, cold injections, and all means calculated to 
keep up the general health. 

Some give, twice a day, one teaspoonful of the following mix¬ 
ture : Rhubarb, saleratus, and pulverized peppermint, five grains 
each in a tablespoon of brandy; or, an ounce and a half of 
tincture of camphor, half an ounce of the tincture of capsicum, 
one ounce of compound spirits of lavender—half a teaspoonful 
thrice a day in water or flax-seed tea; or, one pound of elixir 
vitriol to seven pounds of water; of this take half an ounce to 
twelve ounces of water ; then of this, one tablespoonful in some 
mucilage or a wineglass of water every time the bowels act, and 
once every three hours after, for a day or longer, or every time 
the looseness returns; or, ten drops of creasote, twenty drops of 
acetic acid, in two tablespoonfuls of rain or boiled water, one 
teaspoonful every two hours; give it to children in some mucil¬ 
age. # 

All the remedies for diarrhoea of the common kind are ffood 

O 

for chronic diarrhoea and for dysentery. It should be always borne 
in mind that whatever tends to stop any form of loose bowels at 
once endangers a variety of fatal forms of disease; especially 
in children the liability to w'ater on the brain is very great. 
Hence no medicine containing opium, in any form, ought to be 
given for loose bowels or dysentery until other means have failed. 
Chronic diarrhoea—quietude, the flannel bandage, diet mainly of 
boiled rice in boiled milk, farina, sago, tapioca, and lean meats, 
nothing else as food. Take before eacli meal, in a little rice or 
soft bread, twenty grains of subnitrate of bismuth, which dark¬ 
ens and thickens the passages. The drinks should be mucilag¬ 
inous altogether, such as flax-seed tea, slippery-elm bark tea, 
gum-arabic water, with an occasional injection of a pint each of 
swee't oil and thick flax-seed or other mucilage, half a pint of 
common molasses, a tablespoonful of salt and a teaspoonful of 
laudanum. Mix well; use as much at one time as the bowels will 
retain, three or four tablespoonfuls generally. 

Both homoeopaths and hydropaths advise the use of the 
remedies for common diarrhoea should be persisted in, in the 
chronic form. 


COUGHS AND COLDS. 


683 


COUGHS AND COLDS. 

A common cold is a slight inflammation of the lungs, more 
blood there than is natural ; this excess of blood increases the 
amount of lubricating fluid which nature prepares for all the in¬ 
ternal portions of the body to keep the machinery in easy working 
order; this fluid or mucus is also thicker and becomes yellow ; we 
call it 


PHLEGM. 

As fast as it forms in the lungs,-a tickling sensation is experi¬ 
enced at the little hollow in front at the bottom of the neck, or 
top of the breast-bone; this tickling excites cough, which is a for¬ 
cible expulsion of air from the very bottom of the lungs, or 
branches of the windpipe, carrying everything before it into the 
throat, and with a hawk it is brought into the month, from which 
it is expectorated. This is nature’s method of diminishing the 
excess of blood in the lungs, and getting it outside of the body; 
if not brought away by the cough it would remain in the lungs, 
and we would soon suffocate, or it .would be re-absorbed as in 
consumption, bringing on hectic .fever, night-sweatfe, and death. 
Hence to “ quiet ” the cough, to “ cure ” the cough, by which is 
meant to get rid of it, to prevent it, is suicidal. 

All patent medicines for coughs, colds, and consumptions, 
contain opium, laudanum, paregoric, or morphia, all of which are 
different preparations of opium; they all lessen cough by obtund- 
ing the sensibilities of the parts, they put to sleep the whole body 
and every part of it in proportion, so that all feeling is taken 
away, and in this case the lungs are so stupefied, their nerves are 
so drunk, that they are not sensible of the presence of the 
phlegm, no tickling is experienced, no cough is excited, and the 
phlegm remains, with the results above stated, always and inevi¬ 
tably ; hence the 

infamy • • . 

attached to the names of the men who have made large fortunes 
by the sale of cough medicines, expectorants, soothing syrups, and 


684 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


every other balsam, balm, or other name for medicines to affect 
the lungs. Educated physicians everywhere regard these persons 
as unprincipled swindlers, and in effect murderers, as much so as 
the makers and vendors of made liquors. The direct tendency of 
all cough medicines and soothing syrups sold in drug-stores is to 
kill the persons who take them. All that ought to be done is to 
loosen the phlegm, increase the cough, and thus hasten the rid¬ 
dance from the system. The most direct method of doing this 
is to keep warm, have woollen flannel next the skin, have the 
bowels act freely at least once a day, and live on a strict “ fruit 
diet ” until relieved. 


A COMMON COLD 

• 

can always be cured in twenty-four hours, if within twelve hours 
after it is known to have been taken, and most persons of any 
observation can tell in an hour when they have taken cold; but if it 
is allowed to settle on some weak part for two or three days, it 
will run its course of a fortnight or longer, as measles or any 
similar disease ; liable, however, to be indefinitely protracted, by 
renewing the cold, which is done by the slightest possible causes, 
and the person begins to feel as if he would never get rid of his 
cold. 

All colds are preceded with more or less chilliness, for that is 
the universal cause, although it may be so slight as not to have 
been noticed; then comes the reaction of fever, next loss of appe¬ 
tite, with a dry cough in two or three days; after a while it 
loosens, and the cold wears away. • 

When a cold settles in the system something is taken for it; 
it does ro good; then, something else; in the course of a w T eek or 
ten days half a dozen things have been taken; then a seventh is 
“ tried,'’ the cough loosens, and the man gets well; and as long 
as he lives, he is a great admirer of the seventh remedy, and in 
the course of a lifetime recommends it to fifty or a hundred 
people; but it never did any one of them a particle of good, nor 
did it do him any good; he only happened to take it when the 
cold was “ breaking.” Nature had performed the cure, but in 
this and other ailments it is the last thing done which bears' the 
palm ; this is the way in which so many cures for colds have 
arisen. A cold settling on any part means a congestion in that 


COSTIVENESS. 


685 


part, too much blood ; the only method of relief is to diminish the 
quantity of blood by not eating anything, then taking a large 
dose of castor-oil or salts, or a liver pill or other purgative ; this 
relieves the system of one or two pounds of matter ; keep warm 
in bed; eat nothing, not an atom, until the phlegm begins to 
loosen, then adhere strictly to a “ fruit diet,” keeping in the house 
all the time, in a room as warm as sixty-five or seventy degrees, 
until you are hungry, and there is no cough, except a loose one, 
two or three times a day. This process will cut any cold short 
off in twenty-four hours, if adopted as soon as the cold has been 
taken. It is the proper treatment in later stages, but its good 
effects wfill not appear so speedily. 

A slight cold can always be cured, if taken in hand promptly, by 
going to bed at once in a warm room, well ventilated, taking an 
injection, drinking largely of hot teas, ginger, red pepper; plain 
■water is just as effective but not so readily taken, wrap up warm, 
get into a profuse perspiration for an hour, cool off in another 
hour, keep in the house, and be confined to a fruit diet. Hydro¬ 
pathy relies on enemas, warm and hot baths, packs, and fruit 
and coarse bread diet. 

Homoeopathy prefers dulcamara, in loose cough; belladonna, if 
dry ; liyoscyamus, if that fails; ignatia amara, in tickling coughs ; 
conium maculatum, for severe night cough ; mix vomica, in catar¬ 
rhal or nervous cough; pulsatilla in hard, retching cough; cha- 
momilla in a dry night cough; carbo. veg. when attended with a 
harsh burning in the throat and chest; sulphur is best in ob¬ 
stinate dry coughs, used persistently; the diet should' be 
nourishing, plain, and easy of digestion; avoid cold and damp 
air, especially east winds. 


C 02 


COSTIVENESS. 

A person may be costive and yet have an action of the bowels 
every day, and may not be costive with an action every other day. 
Costiveness really is small, scant, hard passages, or hard lumps or 
balls, passed with difficulty; if the passages are of the consistence 
of mason’s mortar or thinner, it is not costiveness, if there be 




G86 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


but one action every two or three days. But usually a person is 
costive when the bowels fail to act once in twenty-four hours; 
this seems to be the natural arrangement. If one goes several 
days without an action, it becomes 

CONSTIPATION. 

Costiveness attends almost every sickness, usually precedes it, 
sometimes follows. Whatever may be the ailment, an alleviation 
is almost sure to follow a large, free action of the bowels ; hence 
the practice of a large class of persons in the lower walks of life 
to take salts or oil for everything that happens to them. Hence 
the popularity of all pills which are purgative. 

Generally costiveness is attended with cold feet, headache, and 
variable appetite, and when these are present, two other symp¬ 
toms almost always appear—a bad taste in the mouth of morn¬ 
ings, and great chilliness, when “ the least thing in the world 
gives a cold.” 

Costiveness is often caused by resisting the calls of nature for 
trifling reasons, often repeated ; next* to that as to frequency of 
cause is a sedentary habit of life, sitting too much, staying in the 
house most of the time, omitting daily walks, and irregularity in 
the hours for evacuating the bowels. 

• Many persons bring on costive habits by taking medicines for 
every irregularity, or using injections. It is the tendency of all 
medicines which act on the bowels to leave them more costive 
than before, especially if more than one action is induced; if 
persons find they must take something to move the bowels, it 
should be just enough to move them once moderately, and it is 
better still to take it at two doses than all at once, for then the 
action will be more gentle, and its influence more protracted ; if 
a tablespoon of castor oil is required to move the bowels, take 
half a tablespoon at night on going to bed, and the other half on 
rising, and so with all'other remedies taken to relieve costiveness. 

Slow bowels is such a common infirmity, and stands between 
so many persons and enjoyable health, that the subject merits 
intelligent consideration, especially as good health is rarely if ever 
enjoyed without a full free action of the bowels every morning. 
The author’s book on Health and Disease is entirely devoted to 
the exposition of this subject. To prevent costiveness several 
things should be invariably attended to:— 


COSTIVENESS. 


6S7 


First. Yield instantly to. nature’s call. 

Second. If it does not come witliin half an hour of the usual 
time, go to the privy, have a paper or book, and wait and even 
solicit, invite, by a little straining, not much. If the mind is oc¬ 
cupied with reading, the inclination is more likely to be felt than 
if there is a nervous anxiety on the subject; it is not advised to 
wait longer than half an hour, for the position invites the forma¬ 
tion of piles. 

Third. The best time for the bowels to act is after breakfast, 
in the morning ; if it passes, then eat nothing until they do act, at 
least nothing until breakfast next morning, for it is self-evident 
that if food is crowded into the system when there is no outlet, 
there must be accumulations and hurtful oppressions or overload¬ 
ings somewhere, and the system must suffer; while nothing 
should be eaten, the utmost fill may be taken of cold water or 
hot teas. 

Fourth. Walk or work in the open air, in moderation ; this is 
one of the best means possible for inviting the natural action of 
the system. 

Fifth. If these means do not avail, make a breakfast of cracked 
wheat, or otlfer form of bread or mush, as coarse as you can get, 
with a little salt or butter on it and fresh fruits, berries, cherries, 
or currants; or if not in season, use them stewed ; in either case 
with but very little sugar, no milk or other fluid, and nothing 
else. 

Dinner same, with lean meat and boiled turnips, or in their 
place potatoes. Supper same as breakfast, nothing between ; the 
object of these articles of food is to keep the bowels free; if 
fluids are taken with fruits, acidity is likely to result; but an hour 
after eating them, as much water may be drank as is wanted. If 
cracked wheat cannot be had, common wheat may be ground 
very coarse and boiled thoroughly until very soft, as soft as boiled 
rice. Sometimes the flour made of the whole grain may be used 
in the form of bread. The effects of this diet will be greatly in¬ 
tensified if the person walks or works two hours in the forenoon 
in the open air, and an hour in the afternoon; or, if in mid-win¬ 
ter, two of three hours about two o’clock. 

Injections are often resorted to with benefit at the usual hour of 
going to stool, but the great objection to them is that the need for 
them increases with time until the system gets into such a condi- 


688 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR 

tion that the bowels never act without their aid, which is a very 
great inconvenience. The better plan is tc keep the system regu¬ 
lar by natural, means, by the use of such food as each one observes 
for himself to have the effect of loosening the bowels. 

One or more tablespoons of white mustard seed swallowed 
whole in half a glass of water on rising and retiring is efficient in 
some cases. Others take figs or tomatoes, or other food which 
contains little seeds, their mechanical effect being to irritate the 
surface of the bowels, as a speck irritates the eye, causing a flow 
of water, which washes out all before it. 

The coarser the food, the less nutriment and the more waste, 
the more likely to move the bowels, as the accumulation of this 
waste in the rectum causes that amount of distention which is 
necessary to induce an inclination to expulsion; among these are 
the boiled grains, cracked wheat, hominy, boiled turnips; these 
last have five per cent, of nutriment, all the other is waste; 
stewed prunes, a glass of cold or salt water on rising, eating free¬ 
ly of parched corn. But the great point after all is to aim at 
regulating the bowels by the food, next use enemas and laxatives, 
castor oil, and the like, alternately and as seldom as possible; in 
all cases adding outdoor exercise. Hydropathy relies on enemas 
and a diet of fruits, berries, melons, and coarse breads, with 
abundant walking or working in the open air. 

Homoeopathy, on the principle that like cures like, gives opium 
in recent cases ; mix vomica, when recent, as from a heavy meal; 
pulsatilla, when from indigestion ; platina, if brought on by tra¬ 
velling ; mercurius, when there is a bitter taste .in the mouth, or 
the passages are hard and bally ; plumbum metallicum, if obsti¬ 
nate ; lachesis, if the rectum is torpid; lycopodium, when there 
is colic, wind, or sense of weight in lower part of the belly; rhus 
tox., if alternating with looseness. 

Baryta C., in the constipation of old persons; belladonna, if 
there is headache ; china, in pregnancy four globules in a table¬ 
spoon of water, night and morning. 

One-fifth grain of belladonna, three grains of pulverized rhu¬ 
barb, one grain of ipecac, take one three times a day. 

One teaspoonful each of salt and black pepper in a tablespoon¬ 
ful of vinegar, night and morning. 

Apples and pears pealed, cut into quarters, with a little sugar 
and water, eaten with boiled rice thrice a day at meal times the 


WHOOPING- CO UGH. 


6S9 


beginning of tlie meal, with nothing else for supper, is admirable 
for children and old or feeble persons. 

Half a drachm of the alcoholic extract of henbane, one scruple 
of the compound extract of colocynth, three grains of nux vomica, 
made into twelve pills, one every night. 

Four grains each of watery extract of aloes and extract of rhu¬ 
barb, made into a pill, once a day, with an occasional enema. 

One-sixteenth of a grain of acetate of strychnine, three times a 
day. is efficient in very obstinate cases. 


c cn> 


WIIOOPING-COUGH, 

Called Pertussis by physicians, is a “ catching disease,” and is had 
but once in a lifetime—the earlier in life the better. Its distinc¬ 
tive symptom is, the coughing is so quick, spiteful, and urgent, 
the child keeps at it until the breath is so entirely exhausted, 
that in the effort to draw in the needed air with sufficient rapid¬ 
ity, the top of the windpipe seems to close and a whooping sound 
or a long-drawn breath with a whoop is drawn in. It generally 
gets well of itself; keep the child warm, have the bowels act 
every day, and live on fruits, coarse bread, boiled rice, sago, 
tapioca, lean meat once a day. If the cough is tight give syrup 
of squills or ipecac, not enough to vomit; or tincture of assafoe- 
tida. Perhaps the best medicine is about four drops of the 
fluid extract of liyoscyamus to a child ten years old. The air of 
a*as-works seems to have had a beneficial effect in some cases. 
A blister to the back of the neck has given great relief; also free 
frictions to the spine twice a day with onion juice. 

Homoeopathy gives dulcamara when the cough is loose; pul- 
satilla when there is sneezing and hoarseness; mercurius when 
there is a dry cough; belladonna when the cough is dry about 
the middle of the disease. Hepar sul. at that time if the cough 
is loose; arnica, if there is a bloody discharge from the mouth 
or nose. 


44 




600 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


From fifteen to thirty drops of diluted nitric acid, in some 
syrup, thrice a day, is said to have cured hundreds of cases. 
Dr. Gibb, of London, gives one hundred grains of bicarbonate of 
soda, as much cochineal powder, twenty grains of belladonna 
powder in ten grains of sugar, divide into ten doses; take one 
dose thrice a day during the whole progress of the disease; or, 
Elixir vitriol twelve drachms, tincture of cardamom compound 
three drachms, one half ounce of syrup, one ounce of water; one 
teaspoonful every two hours of daylight until cured ; or, 

Beat a fresh egg in half a pint of vinegar, then add half a 
pound of rock candy. Take two tablespoonfuls every four 
hours during the day. 

One gill each of sliced garlic and onions, or double the amount 
of either, .stew with a gill of sweet oil for an hour, then add a 
gill of honey and half an ounce of camphor. One or two tea¬ 
spoonfuls every three or four hours. 

Into half a pint each of strained honey and water add a quar¬ 
ter of a pound of elecampane root, in a glazed vessel or stone 
ware, place in a hot oven, and when it gets as thick as honey, 
give one teaspoonful to a child before each meal. 


zctj 


INFLUENZA 

Is a kind of cold in the head, seeming to combine with some 
ingredient in the atmosphere which causes it to spread among 
whole communities, even killing great numbers; hence is some¬ 
times called 

EPIDEMIC CATARRH. 

/ 

Bed patches appear on the skin; pustules arise in successive 
crops on the face and skin; sometimes the throat is seriously 
involved. It is really a combination of cold and liver derange¬ 
ment. Keep in the house, take a liver pill as directed under 
that heading, with a “fruit diet;” if particularly weak from 
cold or debility, take one or two grains of quinine every three 




BILIOUS COLIC. 


001 


hours during the day. Homoeopathy gives aconitum when there 
is inflammation; arsenicum, if pain in the head and much 
watering at the nose; mercurius, when there are chills and heats 
and profuse perspiration; belladonna, if the tonsils are inflamed 
and swollen; phosphorus, if there is hoarseness or pain in speak¬ 
ing or swallowing; bryonia, when there is hot skin and “ burst¬ 
ing ” headache and cough, day and night; carbo. v. if there is 
oppression in the chest. If there is nausea give ipecac. 

Hydropathy treats this ailment as a common cold with great 
success. 




BILIOUS COLIC 

Is a frequent, painful, and dangerous malady ; there is about the 
navel, and sometimes over the wdiole abdomen, a twisting, tearing, 
griping pain, coming and going by turns. Inflammation soon 
comes on—known by pain on pressure; the abdomen is sometimes 
much swollen, at others drawn in and lank. Bitter, bilious matter 
is vomited; the face is pale and clammy, extending to the whole 
body; these symptoms arise from various causes, all ending in 
congestion of the liver; sudden checking of perspiration, accu¬ 
mulation of bile, exposure to great heat; standing in the water 
for a great while, part of the body in and part out; sometimes 
working and sometimes still. An enema should be administered 
at once ; a large mustard jdaster should be spread over the abdo¬ 
men. If there is sickness at stomach, apply hot fomentations. If 
no sickness, give two tablespoonfuls of Epsom salts, or as much cas¬ 
tor oil, having added to it a tablespoonful of spirits of turpentine, 
and repeat in two hours if there is no operation. If the pain is 
very severe take a hot bath, eighty degrees at first, gradually 
adding hotter water; if the bath is not necessaiy, or not available, 
keep the body warm, and do all that is possible to get up a copi¬ 
ous perspiration, by hot bottles to the feet, the arm-pits, and sides. 
As soon as the bowels act, give two liver pills; as soon as they 
be«:in to take effect, which will be in two or three hours, or as 

o * 

soon as perspiration is induced, the disease is conquered, and the 
patient is safe* 




692 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


Homoeopaths give mix voin.; if not efficient, carbo. veg.; chamo¬ 
mile, if there is a feeling as if there were a stone at the stomach; 
if no relief in two hours, give colocynth or belladonna; lycopo¬ 
dium, when there is a sense of twisting; calcarea, in persons of 
drunken habits. 

Hydropathy administers warm-water injections promptly and 
most freely, until the bowels are entirely unloaded ; give frequent 
sitz, hip or half baths, warm or hot, as may be required; when 
these do not give relief, take the same baths of cold water as 
when the skin is hot and feverish, the pain being at one point, 
coming and going. Drink largely of tepid water ; during all the 
bathings keep up a vigorous friction to the whole back with the 
hands; follow hot fomentations with cold compresses. 




DELIRIUM TREMENS, 

Or mania a potu, from drinking too much liquor, or taking too 
freely of any stimulants, is known chiefly by inability to sleep, 
and the apprehension of the most horrible things imaginable, 
with tremblings of the limbs in most cases; sometimes the hallu¬ 
cinations are of the amusing or ridiculous kind. Give hop-tea 
with a grain of opium every three hours. Give beef-tea or broth 
or gruel, very freely seasoned with the strongest red pepper; or 
put a blister on the back of the neck; or take valerian instead of 
opium; or a tablespoonful of digitalis tincture every two hours, 
or a teaspoonful every half hour. Make sixty grains of red pep¬ 
per into pills, and swallow them at a dose; the result is imme¬ 
diate, there is a sense of warmth throughout the system, the patient 
falling into a sound sleep within an hour. Sleep is the cure. The 
capsicum might be taken in water or syrup or mucilage, putting 
the cup far back on the tongue. A wet sheet-pack is an admirable 
remedy in some cases, and should be first tried on all; it is the 
safest, cheapest, and best. Third and fourth attacks are often 
fatal. Some give thirty-grain doses of capsicum every hour. 
Homoeopathy gives mix vom. in the first stages; opium if later; 
in the young and vigorous, aconite or belladonna or coffee. 




POISONS. 


693 


POISONS. 

In this table the poisons, symptoms, and antidotes are given in 
alphabetical order, so as to be found instantly, for the quicker 
they are given the greater chance for life ; five minutes’ delay 
sometimes settles the question of life or death. But in many 
cases the poison is not known, hence the reader must act on 
general principles. Poisons are of two kinds : corrosive or insen¬ 
sible. The corrosive eat up, burn, destroy the lining of tongue, 
throat, and stomach, and are the most fatal; they all cause a ter¬ 
rible scalding pain, vomiting, and purging ; most of them shrivel 
up the lips and tongue, and make them white or yellow, and con¬ 
strict the throat; countenance dreadfully anxious. The point is 
to know what thing; will soonest cause vomiting:, so as to bring: it 
up out of the stomach the quickest, and which will at the same 
time dilute it. Warm sweet milk, a very little warm—for if hot 
it scalds more—is the very best of all the things which are most 
likely to be had; if not, warm water is best, even cold will do, if 
there is no time to wait; the milk soothes the irritated parts. As 
the two points to be aimed at are dilution and to empty the 
stomach, if milk is not to be had use the water; both are to be 
used in the same way—drink a teacupful at once, in two minutes 
another, and so on until the stomach is so full that a feather or 
finger will cause vomiting. Then swallow the whites of half a 
dozen eggs or a half pint of sweet or other oil, this will antago- 
gonize any remnants of poison left. 

The same remedies are still more applicable for the insensible 
poisons, that is, such as can be swallowed, and the person not be 
sensible of it, and which tend to produce insensibility after they 
get into the stomach, as laudanum, morphia, etc. But after 
causing free vomiting, instead of taking the white of eggs, drink 
strong coffee, and unless the patient is lively and wide awake 
don’t hesitate a moment to pour a steady stream of cold water 
from a height of five or more feet from a pail, on the head and 
shoulders and back until all stupor or dulness is gone, and 
repeat if insensibility begins to return, for the system must be 


HALL'S FAMLLY DOCTOR. 


694 

thoroughly waked up. A quicker way to empty the stomach of 
this class of poisons is to stir a tablespoonful each of common 
salt and ground mustard in a glass of water, stir and drink quick¬ 
ly ; as soon almost as it touches the stomach vomiting commences ; 
encourage it with copious draughts of warm water or milk, and 
then drink strong coffee, and use the pour-bath if necessary. 


READ THIS ONCE A YEAR 

so as to have a general understanding of the whole subject; then 
if a parent has occasion to use this knowledge in the case of any 
member of the family, it will greatly aid him in acting with the 
necessary presence of mind and coolness and deliberation in any 
emergency. 

But when all appliances are at hand, and the poison taken is 
known, the following table will be of great value :— 

Alcohol. Symptom, can’t stand or walk, stupid, no sense. 
Give large draughts, even whole quarts of warm water until all 
is vomited enough. If too drunk to swallow, use stomach-pump 
or set the patient up and let a stream of cold water fall on the 
head and back of the neck continuously from a yard high, no 
matter about wetting anything; if this does not seem to have 
some effect speedily, shake him, whip him with switches smartly, 
even to blood. 

Ammonia or hartshorn. Great burning in mouth, throat, and 
stomach, and prostration; give vinegar and water, or lemon-juice 
diluted, or butter-milk, followed by warm-water emetic as 
above. 

Aquafortis or nitric acid. It turns lips and everything yellow, 
burning throat, vomiting up shreds. Take any form of magnesia, 
chalk or whiting, or strong soapsuds, or soap and water, or wood 
ashes and water, or milk, or white of eggs, or sweet oil, then 
wash out with warm-water emetics. 

Arsenic. Nausea, vomiting, pain in stomach, excessive thirst, 
tight dry throat; any kind of emetic, salt and mustard with water, 
or a teaspoonf id of ipecac in a pint of warm water; then keep on 
drinking warm water until copious vomiting, then swallow the 
whites of several eggs, or magnesia, and use stomach-pump. 

Bismuth. Metallic taste, hot and dry throat, burning in stomach 


Poisons. 


G95 


and bowels, vomiting blood. Drink all the sweet milk you can 
swallow, or eat white of five or six or more eggs, stomach-pump. 

Blisterers or Spanish flies, intended to have been used for a 
plaster. Burning in throat, pain in stomach and bowels, vomits 
bloody mucus and may pass bloody water. Take warm milk and 
warm-water emetics to fullest extent, or stomach-pump. 

Blue Vitriol, Sulphate of Copper, or Verdigris. Metallic taste, 
vomiting, purging, cramps in thighs and legs, foams at mouth. 
Warm-water emetics to fullest extent, then drink strong coffee, 
take whites of eggs, flour and water, or stomach-pump. 

Carbolic Acid. Use stomach-pump if possible ; if not, warm water 
emetics, followed by half a cup of sweet oil, or two tablespoons 
of castor oil. 

Carbonic Acid Gas in wells, sinks, or privies, or from burning 
charcoal in close rooms. Drowsiness, slow breathing, discolored 
face, immovable. Get out in the open-air on the instant, rub the 
hands rapidly over the chest, pour cold water from a height on the 
head, blow air into nose or throat with a bellows, with hartshorn 
rubbed under the nose. 

Cobalt, used as fly poison, also kills children who eat it. Heat 
and pain in throat and stomach, retching, heaving, vomiting, 
anxious look, quick breathing, lpose bowels. Swallow all the warm 
water or sweet oil or milk, or white of eggs, possible. 

Corrosive Sublimate, mixed with the white of eggs to kill bed- 
bugs, has often been left about in unmarked bottles, and taken by 
mistake. Metallic, coppery taste ; burning heat and binding feeling 
in the throat; pain in stomach and bowels, vomiting, purging, 
countenance swollen and anxious, with a white and shrivelled 
tongue. Swallow instantly the whites of half a dozen eggs. Next 
best is wheat flour in water; milk or warm-water emetics and 
washing out. 

Deadly Nightshade. Swelled veins, dry throat, constricted ; 
swimming in the head, nausea, blindness, hysteric laughter, the 
pupils of the eyes are enlarged, finally insensible. Take at once 
an emetic of fifteen grains of sulphate of zinc or five grains of sul¬ 
phate of copper dissolved in a teacup of warm water; drink 
vinegar and water or lemon-juice freely ; take an enema and a 
large dose of castor oil; then, if not fully sensible, pour a stream of 
cold water to fall on the head and nape of the neck, until fully 
roused. 


696 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


Fool’s Parsley, resembling the common kind. Heat in throat, 
thirst, headache, purging, swimming in head and delirium. Salt 
and mustard water emetic, then of milk; next drink flaxseed tea 
and take three or four tablespoons of castor oil. 

Foxglove. Swimming of head, can’t see distinctly, hiccough, 
senseless. Give brandy freely and largely, with mustard plaster 
over the pit of stomach. Pour cold water over the body. 

Hellebore or Pokeberry Plant. Yomiting, bloody stools, tremors, 
shaking of limbs, fainting, anxious countenance, cold sweats. Take 
salt-mustard-water emetic, then warm-water emetics most freely ; 
then purge with four tablespoons or more of castor oil, and in an 
hour drink strong coffee. 

Hemlock. Dim sight, swelling and pain in abdomen, vomit¬ 
ing and purging. Take a salt-mustard-water emetic, then large 
warm-water emetics, then a glass of milk every half hour; pour 
cold water continuously from a height of six feet on head and 
back. 

Henbane. Seems drunk, stupid, delirious, pupils of the eyes 
greatly enlarged. Yomit freely with tartar emetic, ipecac, sul¬ 
phate of zinc or sulphate of copper, five grains of the latter in a 
teacup of warm water. Drink brandy freely, and rouse to life by 
pouring cold water in a constant large stream over head and 
shoulders. 

Lime. Throat burns, stomach pains, vomiting, sometimes 
diarrhoea, others constipation. Drink vinegar and water, lemon 
juice, anything sour which is nearest at hand, then a warm bath ; 
afterwards slippery-elm bark tea. 

Meadow Saffron. Sick stomach, griping pains, cold skin, pulse 
irregular. Yomit instantly with salt, mustard and water, then use 
warm-water emetics largely, then give brandy freely in flaxseed 
tea, or slippery-elm-bark water. 

Monk’s-hood. Nausea, vomiting, swimming in the head, convul¬ 
sions. Take any kind of emetic as soon as possible ; then warm- 
water emetic, afterwards give brandy and water. 

Mountain Laurel, the ingredient in poisonous honey; its buds 
are eaten by birds, the flesh of which is poison. The first symp¬ 
toms are giddiness, constant and sudden flashes of heat and cold ; 
sick stomach, vomiting and purging constantly ; delirious; the 
pulse is fast, a hundred in a minute, beats very feebly ; there is 
the perspiration of debility, and finally convulsions. First take 


POISONS. 


697 


an emetic of a tablespoon eacli of salt and mustard in flaxseed 
tea; or gum-arabic water; then free vomiting with warm milk, 
if not at hand, warm water; after the vomiting ceases take four 
or five tablespoons of castor oil, to clear out the bowels more 
thoroughly. If there is a tendency to unconsciousness, pour cold 
water on the shoulders and back, and give strong brandy and water, 
and keep up the pourings until the stupor has disappeared. This 
cause of poisoning is not unfrequent. Birds killed in the winter, 
from eating the seed, have their fiesli inpregnated with the poison, 
causing most distressing symptoms and long-continued illness. 
Sportsmen, gentlemen, and farmers 5 families, and persons in cities 
fond of game, are at any time liable to poisoning from this cause, 
hence instructions are given at length. 

Mushrooms are healthy, but toad-stools are often mistaken for 
them, and are of a deadly poisonous character. 

Toad-stools have a bad smell, noisome, their taste is bitter or 
sour, or acid, draw up the throat when swallowed. Toad-stools, 
when bruised, have a bluish tint and give out a milky juice very 
acid, drawing up the mouth. 

Toad-stools grow in moist places; mushrooms growing in moist 
places are poisonous. The symptoms are nausea, vomiting, faint¬ 
ness, anxiety, pulse jerks, abdomen swells, cold feet and hands, livid 
skin, and death in forty-eight hours. Severe vomiting and purging 
sometimes save the patient. The symptoms do not come on until 
several hours after eating. As soon as nausea comes on, give an 
emetic of salt, mustard, and warm water; or if not at hand, warm 
milk or water, every five minutes until the freest vomiting occurs; 
then give three or four tablespoons of castor oil, and repeat every 
two hours' until the bowels are freely acted on ; then drink freely 
of flaxseed tea and a tablespoon of brandy, every hour until the 
symptoms have abated and the .system is calmed down. 

Nitre, or Saltpetre. Intense bodity suffering, purging, vomit¬ 
ing, pain in bowels, bloody discharges. Molasses and warm 
water until full vomiting is induced, or milk vomit, then give 
brandy to recover strength. 

Nux Yomica, see Strychnine. 

Oil of Cedar. Convulsions, burning in throat, frothing at 
mouth, pulse fails immediately. The body continues warm for 
hours after death; salt and mustard emetic at first; then warm 
milk. 


G98 


HALL'S FAMLLY DOCTOR. 


Oil of Rue causes headache and even delirium; mouth dry, 
and burning in throat, stomach, and bowels. Yomit instantly, 
then give vinegar or lemon-juice 

Opium. Drowsy, insensible, stupor, slow and loud breathing ; 
give instantly a level tablespoon each of salt and mustard in half 
a glass of water, then strong coffee or tea ; do everything possible 
to wake up the patient, give brandy largely ; or pour a stream of 
cold water on the head and back of the neck, make the patient 
walk about; must overcome the sleepiness, and continue to drink 
coffee and brandy until the patient is perfectly awake and sen¬ 
sible. 

Oxalic Acid looks like Epsom salts, and is used in kitchens to 
clean copper boilers, etc. Gives instant heat in throat, with vom¬ 
iting persistently, a greenish or brownish acid matter, great pain 
and numbness ; take in water magnesia, chalk; or tear plaster 
from the walls, and stir it in water, or common lime-water and 
sweet oil, half and half, then emetics of milk, then flaxseed or 
slippery-elm tea. 

Potash leaves an acid taste; throat and stomach burn, clammy 
skin, colic, small pulse. Drink anything sour, and when relieved, 
take a dose of castor-oil. 

Prussic Acid. Instant weight and pain in the head, nausea, 
stupor, convulsions. Put hartshorn to the nose, apply mustard 
plaster to the whole chest, give some water ; or if called at once, 
vomit with salt and mustard. Pour cold water on head and spine 
until the stupor and convulsions have disappeared. 

Phosphorus leaves an onion taste, nausea, vomiting, pain in 
stomach, pulse very high, with spasms ; give magnesia and water 
freely, or milk until full vomiting is caused, and *keep it up until 
the symptoms have abated. 

Savin Oil. Vomiting, purging, pain in stomach and bowels. 
Milk and water emetic, then drink largely of flaxseed tea, or 
slippery-elm bark. 

Strychnine. Great bitterness in the mouth, lasting for an hour 
or more, violent convulsions, sometimes limbs are stiff and straight, 
jaws firmly closed, drowsiness, hard breathing, fainting, and 
death ; warm water emetics as soon as possible, and then drink 
largely of vinegar or other acids. 

Stramonium. Children often eat the seed, which have a 
sweetish taste. Dizziness, delirium, convulsions, paralysis; cold, 


POISONS. 


090 


clammy sweat; weak pulse. Mustard and salt emetic, or any 
• otlier emetic which brings the poison out of the stomach. 

Sulphate of Zinc. Bitter taste, sense of choking, vomiting, 
colicky pains, purging, hard breathing, feet and hands cold, 
pulse feeble. Swallow instantly white of eggs, or flour and 
water, or milk in large quantities, then drink strong green tea. 

Sugar of Lead, or White Paint. Burning, pricking, dry throat; 
distress at pit of stomach, nausea, vomiting, colic, skin cold, 
small pulse, perfect prostration, cramps, and final insensibility ; 
give Epsom salts at once, a tablespoonful in a pint of warm 
water, drink freely of flaxseed or slippery-elm tea, or gum- 
arabic water. 

PARIS GREEN. 

The most perfect antidote is the hydrated sesquioxide of iron 
in all good drug stores ; but it can be made thus: Dissolve cop¬ 
peras in hot water, keep warm, and add nitric acid until the 
solution becomes yellow ; then pour in ammonia water—common 
hartshorn—or a solution of carbonate of ammonia until a brown 
precipitate falls. Keep this precipitate moist, and in a tightly- 
corked bottle. A few spoonfuls taken soon after even a bad 
case of poisoning with Paris green or arsenic is a perfect remedy. 
Persons who use Paris green to destroy potato-bugs should keep 
this always on hand, in a well-stoppered bottle. 

Tar Oil. Instant insensibility, and hard, rattling breathing as 
in apoplexy; the pupils of the eye get very small, pulse small and 
low; give milk and water emetics instantly, and then follow 
with vinegar or lemon-juice. 

Tansy Oil. Heat in stomach, convulsions, frothing at mouth, 
pulse soon dying away. Milk or water emetics, flaxseed tea after¬ 
wards. 

Tartar Emetic. Burning and pain in throat, stomach and 
bowels; hiccough, great purging,,the pulse is small and hard, 
cramp, dizziness, fainting; give strong tea, flaxseed tea after¬ 
wards, or gum-arabic water. 

Tobacco. Vomiting, headache, dizziness, convulsions, death. 
Vomit instantly w r ith salt and mustard ; give a dose of castor oil 
or salts, at least a tablespoonful of the latter and three or four of 
the former, followed with a tablespoonful of brandy in half an 
hour, repeated every hour until relieved. 


TOO 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR . 


Thorn-apple or Stramonium causes excessive thirst, nausea, 
vomiting, sense of strangulation, anxiety, faintness, partial blind- * 
ness, pupil of the eye enlarges; flushed and swollen face; dizziness, 
vertigo, delirium, furious or whimsical, tremor, stupor, convulsions. 
Take salt and mustard and water emetic, or any other tepid 
emetic; then give two or three tablespoons of castor oil or 
salts to cleanse out the bowels ; next give ten drops of laudanum 
every three hours for three times. 

White Lead. Salt, mustard and water emetic, an injection ; next 
a brisk purgative of salts or castor oil, then a teaspoon fill of 
magnesia in half a teacup of water every two hours four times. 


VEGETABLE TOISONS, 

such as opium, laudanum, morphia, hemlock, etc.; drink freely 
of vinegar or lemon-juice. If large quantities have been taken, 
by all means keep the patient walking about briskly, for sleep is 
death; if no other means avail, hold him still and pour cold 
water over head and shoulders as above stated, until he is fully 
awake and has no disposition to go to sleep again. 

Poison from ivy, dogwood, or swamp sumach is cured by 
bathing the parts, night and morning, with an ounce of copperas, 
that is, sulphate of iron, dissolved in a pint of water;-be sure to 
keep the bowels free, and live on fruits and coarse bread. 

The general principles of action in reference to all poisons 
taken into the stomach are here repeated. Get the poison out as 
quick as possible, by drinking a teacupful of warm milk every 
two minutes, until the stomach is so full that vomiting is easilv 
excited by a feather or finger; warm water is next best to warm 
milk; when free vomiting.has been caused, then give an appropriate 
antidote, as learned from what has been already said ; the most uni¬ 
versally applicable is to swallow the whites of several eggs. If there 
is great burning in the throat and stomach and bowels, take an 
emetic as above of sweet oil and milk or water, or a teacupful of 
warm milk every three minutes, until the stomach is so full that 
the slightest feather or finger in the throat will cause vomiting ; 
then take a tablespoon of sweet oil. Great burning in the throat 
and stomach, and dry tongue, indicate that corrosive poison has 
been taken, such as acids, which eat off the mucous membrane; 


POISONS. 


701 


lienee tlie milk, or better still, a tablespoonful of sweet oil' in 
every cupful, stirred round and drunk quickly, is peculiarly ap¬ 
plicable in all burning poisons. 

The first thing is to get them out of the stomach by warm 
water emetics or by tartar emetic, then give four or five table¬ 
spoons of castor-oil at once, and a tablespoon every hour after, 
until it begins to act; but as soon as the oil is taken, administer 
an enema; as soon as the oil begins to act on the bowels drink 
brandy and water, or any other stimulant, very freely, to keep up 
the strength; or use hartshorn or ether, or any kind of bitters 
that may be in the house. 

Muriatic Acid. Burning in throat, strangles to swallow, throat 
swells, breathes hard. Stir magnesia, or chalk, or whiting, or lime 
in water and drink it down, or soap-suds, or tear the plastering 
from the wall, beat it up and stir it in water, settle a minute and 
drink it down, or stir a teaspoonful of saleratus in a cup of warm 
water and drink it, then take a sweet milk emetic. 

Muriate of Baryta. Burning pain and heaviness in the stomach, 
blindness, swimming in head, ears ring, temples pain, and con¬ 
vulsions. Tablespoon of Glauber’s or Epsom salts, then drink 
largely of warm water to induce free vomiting, then take flaxseed 
tea, next a quarter grain of morphia or thirty drops of laudanum 
to quiet the system. 

Muriate of Tin. Coppery taste in the mouth, stricture in 
throat, difficult breathing, stomach has cramps, purging, quick 
pulse, and convulsions. Give milk or water to the fullest extent, 
so as to cause vomiting. Dip flannels in boiling w T ater, wring out 
and lay over stomach, renew every ten minutes ; an enema of tea¬ 
spoon of laudanum in a half pint of water, retain it as long as possible. 

Nitrate of Silver in solution, or Lunar Caustic. Burning pain in 
stomach, vomiting and purging, irregular and weak pulse, and faint¬ 
ing. Drink instantly a tablespoonful of salt in a glass of water, 
stir quickly and don’t wait until it dissolves. Then a milk emetic, 
next thirty drops of laudanum or morphia, or a grain of opium. 

Nitre or Saltpetre. Pain, vomiting, bloody discharges from 
bowels, intense debility, and faintness. Drink flaxseed tea or 
gum-arabic water, or syrup and water, half and half, then a milk 
or warm-water emetic, and when it is over a tablespoonful of 
brandy in two or three tablespoons of water. 

Nux Vomica or Strychnine. Great bitterness remains in the 


702 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


month, sudden spasms in the body, limbs stiff and straightened out, 
jaws closed as in lockjaw, drowsiness. Give warm water or milk 
emetics, and when stomach is empty take a glass of lemonade or 
a tablespoon of vinegar in a cup of water. 

Oil of Cedar. Convulsions, mouth froths, heat in stomach, pulse 
ceases to beat quickly, yet in case of death the body remains 
warm for a long time. Take promptly a salt-mustard-water 
emetic, then drink a cup of warm water every five minutes, until 
stomach is free enough to excite vomiting by feather or finger in 
throat. 

Oil of Rue. Throat and mouth dry, intense thirst, headache, 
and incoherency; mustard emetic,then a warm-milk emetic. 

Oil of Savin. Headache, delirium, pain, vomiting, convulsions; 
mustard or other emetic, glass of lemonade or of flaxseed tea. 

Oil of Tansy. Stomach burns, mouth froths, pulse dies away ; 
salt and mustard emetic, promptly, then drink largely of flax¬ 
seed or elm-bark tea. 

Oil of Tar. Insensible, breath rattles, chest heaves, pupils con¬ 
tracted, .eyes water; warm-milk emetic. 

Oil of Vitriol. Pain, burning, strangulation, vomits a dark-colored 
fluid and little stringy particles from a destruction of the mucous 
membrane of the throat; stir whiting, magnesia, chalk, lime, or 
plaster in water, and drink it down; then warm-milk emetic. 

Opium, whether in form of Morphia, Laudanum, or Paregoric. 
Sleepiness, stupor; instant emetic of salt, ground mustard, and 
warm water; next a teaspoon of brandy in half a tablespoon of 
water, every five minutes, with pouring water from a pail, five or 
more feet high on head, shoulders, and back, until the person is 
roused to life; then drink largely of strong, very strong coffee, and 
keep him walking about by all means, until the drowsiness has 
passed off, never safe until then. The quickest way is to use a 
stomach-pump, if one is at hand. 

Phosphorus. High pulse, onion taste, vomiting, and purging, 
convulsions. Children take it from eating some form of matches. 
Drink magnesia or lime-water, then a milk emetic. 

Oxalic Acid ; kept in kitchens to clean copper vessels. Mouth 
and throat hot and burning, vomits up green, sour matter, small 
pulse, spasms, and numbness; swallow lime-water and oil, half 
and half, or magnesia, or chalk, or whiting water, thick as syrup, 
then drink flaxseed tea. 


POISONS. 


703 


Poison Ivy. By touching the hands or face in going through 
the woods , it poisons in a day or two after, by itching, then 
there is a red breaking out on the skin which soon shows little 
pellicles or blisters, with considerable swelling; the blisters de¬ 
liver water and the skin peels off in about a week. Wash the 
parts well, four or five times a day, with lime-water. If the vesi¬ 
cles are broken apply spirits of nitre, and repeat next day. 
Take meanwhile a tablespoon or two of castor oil or other pur¬ 
gative, to give one free action of the bowels once or twice a day, 
and live on coarse bread and fruit or berries, until the skin begins 
to peel off. 

Poison Dogwood sometimes has the effect of irritating the skin. 
It is known by its beautiful little red berry at the end of the twigs. 
Only a few persons are susceptible to poison from it. Keep the 
bowels free, and bathe the parts well with sweet oil several times a 
day. 

White Lead or Sugar of Lead. Mouth and throat dry, heat, 
pricking, thirst, colic, vomiting, great prostration, cramps, and con¬ 
vulsions. Take a tablespoonful of Epsom salts in sweet milk, 
every hour until purging, and white of two eggs every half hour, 
for two or more hours. 

Strychnine. See Kux Vomica. 

Sulphate of Zinc. See White Vitriol. 

Tartar Emetic. Intense nausea, vomiting, cramps, hard fast 
pulse, colicky pains, and burning heat in the stomach. Stir five 
grains of quinine in a glass of warm water or milk, and drink it 
down; then drink a cup of warm milk or water every five min¬ 
utes, until a feather in the throat causes free vomiting; then drink 
a cup or two of strong tea, followed in half an hour by twenty 
drops of laudanum. 

Thorn-apple, Stramonium, or Jamestown AWed. Children often 
eat the seeds. Swimming in the head, delirium, and convulsions. 
Clive emetics of any kind as soon as possible ; salt and mustard in 
warm water. 

AVhite Vitriol. Leaves a bitter taste in the mouth, vomiting, with 
colicky pains, heavy breathing, rapid pulse, feet and hands cold. 
Swallow at once the whites of half a dozen eggs in flour and milk; 
then cause vomiting by copious draughts of warm water, and 
when relieved drink a cup or two of strong tea. 


704 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


MILK A MEDICINE. 

In the preceding the value of warm milk as an emetic and an 
emollient in giving relief from the effects of poisons is very 
apparent. Dr. B. Clark, an eminent English physician in the 
East Indies, says that sweet milk seldom fails to check and cure 
the most violent diarrhoea, stoiiiacli ache, and incipient cholera, if 
a pint is drank every four hours ; it must not be boiled, but 
warmed enough to make it palatable. lie says that it has never 
failed, in fifty times, to cure him of diarrhoea within six or eight 
hours. In one case of diarrhoea for eight months it acted like a 
charm ; in two days the diarrhoea was gone, and in two or three 
weeks he became a hale, hearty man. In typhoid fever it pro¬ 
motes sleep, checks diarrhoea, cools the body, nourishes the system, 
wards off delirium, and prepares the way for cure. It will re¬ 
main on the stomach sometimes when nothing else will. In 
scarlet fever give all the milk the patient will take ; it keeps up 
the strength, and does good in other ways. It has been referred 
to in another page as a cure for diabetes ; but when used in any 
of these cases, nothing else should be eaten or drank. Let the 
milk be the only food and beverage. 

- ZOD - 


BIIEUMATLSM. 

If a hinge is dry or rusty or rough it moves heavily, harshly, 
and hard; every joint of the bod}^ is a hinge, and attached to 
each are certain little manufactories called 

SYNOVIAL GLANDS, 

whose office it is to prepare a lubricating fluid which answers to 
the joints the purpose of oil to a hinge ; when this synovial fluid 
is dried up by fever, heat, inflammation, all which means the 
same thing in this connection, the joints are dry, they do not move 
on one another easily, the slightest action gives pain ; that is com¬ 
mon rheumatism; this inflammation is the reaction of cold about 
the joints, rheumatism being the result of cold and wet to the 
joints or surrounding parts, and as it is caused by cold, its cure, in 




RHEUMATISM. 


705 


reality, is warmth ; hut as it is deep-seated it requires a consider¬ 
able time for the warmth to reach it, to exercise its sensitive in¬ 
fluence, hence rheumatism is very tedious of cure. At the same 
time there are other causes of rheumatism besides cold and wet; 
whatever can occasion heat about the joints and sheaths of the 
muscles can cause rheumatism; hence there is : 

1. Acute rheumatism, inflammatory rheumatism, or rheumatic 
fever. 

2. Chronic rheumatism, affecting the joints and parts near 
them. 

3. Syphilitic rheumatism of the long and flat bones, between 
the joints, not at them. The remedy for this, seldom failing, is 
ten, fifteen, or twenty grains of the iodide of potassium three 
times a day, until the symptoms have disappeared, and to be taken 
again should these symptoms return, and so often as they do return ; 
it is believed that this will cure where cure is possible; it is a kind 
of inflammation of the live part of the bone, its outer covering, 
full of blood-vessels and nerves, called the 

PERIOSTEUM. 

This is always the result of venereal disease, from promiscuous 
sexual intercourse ; it sometimes fixes itself in the system for life, 
and perhaps from one single act, the work of almost an instant of 
time! A merchant was on his way to Havanna in a steamer. 
Early one morning, as he was half dressed, a handsome Octoroon 
chambermaid, in the prime of young womanhood, was passing his 
stateroom door; scarcely without a thought he threw out an arm about 
her,-drew her in, and standing, there was an iniquitous consummation. 
Fourteen years later a physician was hastily called, he was laid in 
the middle of his own parlor, his wife and children about him, wit¬ 
nesses of his suffering and agony ; which he declared was unendura¬ 
ble—the result of that one act. For all these long years he had 
been a martyr to these tortures, at varying intervals. This is given 
more in detail, as an illustration of the infinite folly of any man 
trusting himself for one brief instant to any woman but his own 
lawful wife ; and also of the inconceivable weakness of intellect 
in any wife, who fails to afford those appeasements which nature 
calls for, and which, if not had in a rightful way, will be sought 

in a devious path, as above ; hence, any obstacles interposed, unless 
45 


TOG 


BALDS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


there he a positive physical necessity, endangering great injuries 
to the system or the constitution, tend to bring about domestic in¬ 
felicities and infidelities, which but too often embitter the whole 
subsequent domestic life. 

A WARNING TO YOUNG MEN. 

Not long ago a young gentleman called for medical aid, a man 
of family, of high social position and of extensive business asso¬ 
ciations ; he had been suffering from this form of rheumatism, 
which had located itself deep into the thigh bones; it was the 
daily bane of his life, the -result of 

ONE SINGLE ERROR, 

long years ago. No hurry of business would keep those pains 
away; they were an incubus on every undertaking, sometimes 
disappearing for a time, and then without apparent cause sud¬ 
denly returning; on ’change, at bank, at his counting-room; like 
an evil genius forever’hovering around him ; for many nights in 
succession sleep would be driven away for hours an cl hours to¬ 
gether, until from sheer exhaustion he would forget himself in 
fitful slumbers as the morning dawned. He had sought medical 
advice in various directions; he had fled to the sea-sliore, to the 
White Mountains, to # the Pacific sea, to the Florida coast, and 
across the great waters to the opposite side of the globe; but 
there was that torturing pain which refused alike to be left in 
the burning sands of the south, the icebergs of the poles, on 
land or sea, and all for one transgression years ago. Let every 
unmarried man, every youth, take warning of this case, a repre¬ 
sentative one of millions of its kind, and never yield to the tempter, 
honorably reserving all for her, and her alone, who is or shall be 
the woman of his choice, his lawful married wife. 

Arthritic rheumatism is a severer form of joint-affection at¬ 
tended with effusions, causing long-continued or permanent lame¬ 
ness. Give the liver pill at ten days’ interval, keeping the bowels 
acting freely and fully every day; between the pills follow 
rigidly the special fruit diet, and take thrice a day a tablespoon 
of the following mixture, into five ounces, or ten tablespoon¬ 
fuls of peppermint water: one drachm of the wine of colcliicum 


RHEUMATISM. 


707 


root, of the bicarbonate of potash and Rochelle salts, three drachms 
sach. 

MYALGIA, 

or “ muscle aching ” literally, is the name given to that form of 
rheumatism which attacks the muscles of the body, as those of 
the chest, back, loins, and of the joints near these parts, and 
fibrous tissues generally. 


LUMBAGO 

is rheumatism of the loins, or joints of the small of the back. 

SCIATICA 

is rheumatism of the hip-joint. 

» . 

PLEURODYNIA, 

when the muscles of the chest are affected. Here again is an 
illustration of the “ oneness of disease,” and the oneness of the 
remedy. Various names are given, but the cause is one—inflam¬ 
mation, as a result of wet or cold applied to the part; the remedy 
is one—the liver pill and the special fruit diet; and notwith¬ 
standing the various names of the disease, as varied almost as the 
locality, the principles of treatment are the same—to relieve the 
“ congestion ” of the parts by means which act on the liver,which 
result in diminishing the quantity of the blood in the whole body, 
and, as a matter of course, the quantity in every part of it; this is 
done promptly, largely, and effectually, the liver pill not only 
acting on the liver, clearing out its channels, but the fruit diet 
cools the system and tends to clear out of it the contents of the 
bowels, thus largely also diminishing the total amount of blood. 
But in these varied rheumatic affections, whether acute or chronic, 
there are various aids to the medicine and diet; keep the parts 
warm every instant of time by soft woollen flannel bandages, or 
pads of cotton and wool, thick enough to keep up an' abundant 
warmth. 

Lemonade, half a gallon or more a day, between meals, pretty 
sour; next best is vinegar and water sweetened; all acids are 
cooling but the vegetable acids are best. 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


70S 

In addition, if the bowels were made to act freely twice every 
day, a great point will be gained ; do this, if it requires salts or 
castor oil or other laxative to be used every morning. 

Rheumatic persons should stay in the house ; time will be gained 
by it in the end,.for slight dampness, slight cold drafts on a part, 
bring back the pains; hence they will get well soonest of all these 
forms of rheumatism who most rigidly remain in the house, in a 
warm room, not under 65° in winter, taking care to keep it well 
ventilated when the joints or muscles are very painful. 


HOT BATHS 

are sometimes very grateful; they soothe the whole system; at 
other times relief is obtained by bathing the parts with tincture 
of arnica, or rubbing into the skin freely and well, twice a day, 
veratria ointment. 


GONORRIKEAL RHEUMATISM. 


Gonorrhoeal rheumatism is caused by the absorption of gonor¬ 
rhoeal matter into the blood; the speediest relief is attained by 
bleeding, but better to take a liver pill weekly and special fruit 
diet; take twice a day a dose of muriate of ammonia, and at 
night a quarter of a grain of sulphate of morphia in a teaspoonful 
of water on going to bed. 


GONORRHOEA 

itself is a disease from promiscuous intercourse; like syphilis, it 
never originates, it is always caught from another, like small-pox, 
hence those who live in lawful wedlock can never have either of 
them. Syphilis always affects the blood, and is never wholly ex¬ 
tricated from the system; the children born to such are always 
scrofulous, exhibiting itself in sore eyes> scabs on the scalp, and 
various forms of eruptions and ulcers, according to the constitu¬ 
tion of the patient and various attendant circumstances, occupa¬ 
tion and modes of life. Gonorrhoea is not such a disease. It 


RHEUMATISM. ■ 


700 


comes on from one to ten days after exposure, and may last 
for weeks, sometimes leaving a chronic discharge which lasts 
indefinitely long, called a gleet. Gonorrhoea is always aggra¬ 
vated by walking or any form of exercise ; it is cured certainly in 
a few days if the patient will go to bed, observe special fruit 
diet, and take Epsom salts ,night and morning, to keep the bowels 
acting freely twice every day without fail; if gonorrhoea is neg¬ 
lected, it is the more difficult to cure, 'and surgical assistance 
should be obtained. Gonorrhoea and syphilis are the only dis¬ 
eases resulting from impure intercourse ; a single time is all- 
sufficient; simple introduction, without consummation, is all 
that is necessary; hence the infinite folly of voluntary exposure 
to such disgraceful and disgusting maladies. Both of them give 
out a yellowish matter, which is often left on the sheets in bed, 
and on privy seats, and handkerchiefs; if such matter should 
touch a sore part of another person, even the slightest scratch or 
abrasion, or the mucous surface of the eyes or nose or other part, 
the disease is as certainly imparted as small-pox would be if the 
same bed were occupied; hence the care which the intelligent 
and cultivated classes take while travelling never to sit on a 
privy seat so as to allow it to come in contact with the skin. 
Spread a paper over it by all means ; if no paper, take a handker¬ 
chief, and then burn it; better walk a mile to the woods than 
run the risk, or manage in some way or other not to touch the 
seat with any part of the skin. 

Ifence also the keepers of all good hotels never put a guest 
in a bed on sheets which have been used by another; for this and 
other reasons good housekeepers in cities and large towns are very 
careful to have the sheets washed, even after a single night’s use 
by a guest. In country places it is not thought necessary to have 
sheets washed oftener than once a month, and a dozen persons 
may sleep on them in succession ; hence country hospitality does 
not cost much trouble. 

Sometimes matter forms in the eyes, and a handkerchief is 
used ; that handkerchief can impart the disease to the eyes of 
another, or to a chapped lip ; sometimes the scalp is affected with 
ulcerous formations of the same kind; hence, never touch the 
handkerchief or comb or hairbrush of a stranger, any more than 
you would touch a carrion. These diseases have been adverted 
to, not so much with a view to give the treatment, as to impress 


710 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR 


upon the reader's mind the precautions , just named, and also to 
fill it with utter detestation and abhorrence of impure sexual in¬ 
tercourse, and to give a hint to wives, that if husbands are driven 
by trifling excuses to obtain supplies elsewhere, these abomina¬ 
tions may be brought home to them, and are brought home to 
them in multitudes of instances, to be infected themselves, and 
to have those infected with the degrading taint of blood who are 
born to them. Many a divorce originates in things like these, to 
be a living disgrace to father and mother and all the children 
for. a whole life thereafter ; for let it be remembered that in all 
cases of this sort, a cloud forever hangs around the character of 
divorced parties; however faultless and honorable and pure one 
party may be, the great public does not take pains to inform 
itself as to whether the grounds are just or not; it takes up the 
reproach greedily, rather likes it, often revels in it, especially 
when the parties are persons of position. The city physician has 
reason to believe that three divorces out of four can be traced to 
the fault of the wife; she pleads her husband’s infidelity; the 
courts release her, for they look at the husband’s dereliction, and 
are not authorized to go farther back and inquire what led him to 
infidelity to the marriage vow.; if they did, they would find it in 
the conduct of a petted, spoiled, childish wife, taking her little 
revenges in interposing obstacles to accommodations, in spite 
sometimes, in mere waywardness often. In other cases where 
the husband is too honorable, too high-minded to commit a wrong 
himself because one has been committed by another, he may hold 
fast his integrity,, but the charm is broken, the sun has gone 
behind a cloud, and happiness never dwells again in that house¬ 
hold. These are suggestions not only for wives, but for mothers, 
to be made use of at a proper time, and thus enable their 
daughters to escape, and escape easily, the early stranding of the 
domestic ship. 

There is, in connection with this subject, a 

GONORRIKEAL OPHTHALMIA, 

an inflammation of the eye caused by the matter of gonorrhoea 
coming in contact with the lid ; it is the worst form of inflamma¬ 
tion of the eyes ; progressing very rapidly, and there is ■ great 
danger of loss of sight. At first it seems merely a cold in the 


RHEUMATISM. 


711 


eye, but in a da) 7 or two matter begins to form at some spot in the 
eye; in colds the matter finds its way to the corners of the eyes, 
but in this form it is at one spot. Give at once a large dose of 
castor-oil, four tablespoons, and in a few hours, or at bedtime, a 
liver-pill, with a special fruit-diet, no meat, and keep the bowels 
acting twice every day w T itli Epsom salts or castor-oil until the 
symptoms lia\ v e entirely disappeared. After the oil has operated, 
apply a solution of nitrate of silver, five grains to an ounce of 
water, with a camel’s-hair pencil. If gonorrhoea has been imparted 
to the mother before the birth of the child, it may take this form 
of eye-disease; if she suffers from leucorrhoea, the matter, in the 
passage of the infant, may come in contact with the eyelids, 
causing 

PURULENT OPHTHALMIA. 

In such case dissolve- four grains of alum in two tablespoons of 
water, and with a little syringe wash the ailing part three or 
four times a day, keeping the bowels free, and giving nourishing 
food. 

RHEUMATISM, . 

in the common acceptation of the term, is the result of a cold 
imparted to a particular portion of the body by a draught of air 
on it, or by damp clothing. If a person works hard, and per¬ 
spires profusely, in a stooping position, especially if in the sun, 
the 

“small of the back,” 

which embraces the loins, becomes very warm, the clothing next 
the skin is wet with perspiration ; suppose it begins to rain, and 
the person has nearly completed the work in hand, there is an 
ambition to continue until it is done; but the rain is falling, and 
lief ore he is aware the outer clothing is saturated with cold water, 
this chills the garment wet with perspiration, and the next morn¬ 
ing the body is racked with 

LUMBAGO. 

Or suppose the same person, having completed the work, sits 
down to rest and the wind is blowing against his back, the cloth- 


712 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


ing next the skin is cooled, there is a clammy dampness, more or 
less chilling the parts, causing lumbago, on the same general 
principles ; if done a few times, either of these forms of exposure 
lays the foundation of 


bright’s disease, 

so uniformly fatal. Hence rheumatism is a cold in fhe muscles 
or joints of the body, inducing inflammation; it is from a Greek 
word “ rheum,” a flowing from ; a defluxion, meaning thereby 
that rheumatism flows or shifts from one point to another, the 
essential idea of the word being motion, changing. Innumerable 
remedies have been advised for rheumatism; most of them give 
more or less of temporary relief, but the point is to eradicate it 
by removing the inflammation, which is a congestion of the arte¬ 
ries, as before explained. 

For acute rheumatism the homoeopathic remedies are aconite, 
when cheeks are red and- there are shooting, tearing, racking 
pains, especially at night, preceded or followed by sulphur; bel¬ 
ladonna, when there are burning pains; if pain is increased by 
every motion, give bryonia ; if there is great restlessness, agita¬ 
tion, and tossing about, chamomilla is appropriate ; give, nux 
vomica when there is numbness, tightness, or partial paralysis; if 
there are burning, crampy, stitching pains in the muscles, give 
cimicifuga; if after getting better a relapse takes place, dulca¬ 
mara is appropriate; if the pains are increased by the warmth of 
the bed, or towards morning, administer mercurius; lachesis, 
when there is pain, stiffness, or swelling in the part; if the pains 
are most in the wrists, finger-joints, and nape of the neck, take 
caulopliyllum; if the stomach is deranged, or there is fever in 
the afternoon, followed with sweats, colchicum is serviceable, or 
veratrum viride; if the patient is scrofulous, give calabar. 

SPIRITS OF TURPENTINE, 

rubbed freely and well into the skin over the rheumatic part,'has 
been known to have an admirable and speedy effect in the remov¬ 
al of rheumatic pains. The skin should be covered with warm 
flannel. 

Orris-root, carried in the pocket and chewed freely as tobacco is 


RHEUMATISM. 


713- 


chewed, is said to have been efficacious. Permanganate of pot¬ 
ash, in half-grain doses, although given in other ailments ten 
grains at a time, is said to be highly efficacious in acute rheu¬ 
matism and where there are swellings in the joints. Take 
half a grain of the permanganate four times a day, in raspberry or 
other syrup, which makes it less nauseous. To be taken half an 
hour before meals, or two hours after, and once besides. Half an 
ounce of tinely pulverized saltpetre, in half a pint of sweet oil, 
rubbed well into the skin, night and morning, gives welcome re¬ 
lief to pain. Flowers of sulphur, twenty grains, thrice a day in 
syrup, and good bandaging of the joint in line old woollen flannel, 
do great good, says the London Lancet. 

Oil of mustard, well rubbed into the skin of the part twice a 
day, is one of the most efficient remedies known. 

As an internal remedy, take several lemons a day, or one every 
four hours, or. drink freely of old or new cider. If either acts 
more than twice a day on the bowels, omit for awhile, but in all 
cases of rheumatism cause the bowels to act three times in two 
days, keep in a warm room of sixty-five degrees; do not go outside 
of the door until relieved, and live on the special fruit diet. 

Kheumatism seems to be benefited at times by remedies which 
at others and in other persons are useless, and, as it is a very tedi¬ 
ous and troublesome complaint, some of them are named; but no 
one need hope for any benefit from any' source unless the patient 
keeps warmly dressed in a warm room, and avoids dampness in 
every form, whether in the. air, or clothing, or skin. Keep the 
parts well rubbed with a mixture of hartshorn and sweet oil, half 
and half; rub it' into the skin patiently and well, or a drachm of 
chloroform in two ounces of sweet oil. Either of these should be 
rubbed well into the skin, before the fire, on going to bed, and 
then wrap the part in soft, dry flannel, or keep oiled silk over it; 
at the same time, take in a little water thirty-five drops of the tinc¬ 
ture of cohosh, with ten drops of elixir vitriol, twice a day. 

■ On going to bed, bathe the parts well in very hot water, said to 
be more efficacious if potatoes have been boiled in the water; 
there would be one advantage in this course, the potatoes would 
be ready for breakfast next morning. 

Acids seem to affect rheumatic pains favorably ; as they have 
an influence on the action of the liver, it is worth the trial to take 
half a lemon four times a day, or drink largely of lemonade or 


HAL VS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


714 

buttermilk. In very severe pains keep on a poultice of linseed 
meal and a strong decoction of valerian root. 


■<xx> 


TIIE LUHGS. 



1. Is the "heart’s right ventricle or chamber. 

2. The-left ventricle. 

3. The right auricle. 

4. Left auricle. 

5. The pulmonary (lung) artery. 

6. Right pulmonary artery. 

8. Remains of the ductus arteriosus. 

9. Aortic arch. 

10. Superior vena cava. 

11. Arteria innominata. 

12. Right subclavian vein. 

13. Right common carotid artery and vein. 

14. Left vena innominata. 


15. Left carotid artery and vein. 

16. Left subclavian artery and vein. 

17. Trachea or ■windpipe, the seat of croup and 

diphtheria. 

18. Right bronchus, or branch of the windpipe. 

19. Left bronchus. 

20. 20. Pulmonary veins. 

21. Upper lobe of right lung. 

22. Its middle lob'e. 

23. Its inferior lobe. 

24. Superior. 

25. Lower. 


The lungs-are contained in a bag, called pleura; when it is 
inflamed, as by a bad cold, it is called 


PLEURISY, 


or more correctly, pleuritis, meaning inflammation of the pleura; 
if tile lungs themselves are inflamed it is properly pneumonitis, 
or lung inflammation, generally denominated pneumonia, or 















TEE LUNGS. 


715 


lung fever. They are both dangerous diseases, especially pneu¬ 
monia, usually fatal within a week, and even if the patient gets 
well, it is by painfully slow degrees, requiring weeks and months 
and even years. The treatment of both these diseases is essen¬ 
tially the same, both being congestion of the arteries, too full of 
blood ; formerly the old-scliool physicians emptied them speedily 
by bleeding the patient until he was about to faint; no doubt in 
skilful and experienced hands it is still the quickest, safest, and 
best way, but there is such a prejudice against bleeding in these 
later years, that less decided means are almost universally relied 
on. Ilydropatlis use the wet sheet when called before there is 
much pain, but when the pain is decided, increased by cough, 
and there is difficult breathing, a wet compress or wrapper should 
be kept all over the chest, covered with a dry cloth ; it should be 
kept on without intermission, and in bad cases renewed every 
two or three hours. In addition, the tepid sitz-bath two or 
three times in twenty-four hours ; if the patient is weak, feet and 
hands cold, take the warm sitz-bath and warm foot-bath, even 
hot foot-bath rather than allow the feet to keep cold. Keep the 
bowels open twice a day with tepid enemas. If the expectora¬ 
tion is scant and sticky and hard to get up, drink warm water to 
the point of vomiting, and keep the body warm. 

Homoeopathy relies on aconite when there is arterial congestion, 
that is, inflammation. If intense pain in the side on the least 
motion, give cimicifuga racemosa; if the phlegm is sticky and 
reddish and tough, take bryonia, and belladonna if the fever is 
rising. Phosphorus can be given to advantage in every stage of 
the disease, six globules in two tablespoons of water, one tea¬ 
spoonful every three hours. 

If there is great oppression, give antimonium ; and sulphur if 
there is any tendency to a relapse. Eat nothing whatever until 
the symptoms are certainly abating; may drink toast water, 
whey, barley-water sweetened, and when the appetite begins to 
return eat very sparingly, and increase the amount very slowly. 

The Allopathic treatment should be liver pill, acid drinks, 
live on fruits and coarse breads in very moderate quantities, keep 
quiet, w r arm, and composed. Pneumonia is a terrible disease to 
the feeble and the old. Thousands of clergymen die of it from 
going out of doors soon after speaking in a warm room, espe¬ 
cially when they have to ride some distance immediately after 


716 


nALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


service; it is pitiful to think how many useful and great men 
have been thus cut off in the flower of their age. For a man to 
ride on horseback, facing a raw, cold, damp wind, at any season 
of the year, soon after preaching, is almost as certain death 
within a week as standing before a rifle at the distance of fifty 
yards; and yet it is done, with greater or less aggravation, every 
year. Remaining in cold, damp rooms for a long time, or riding or 
walking in the cold, is a common cause of pneumonia. An old man 
w r alked against the wind on a very cold day, made a tire in his 
office and sat down to his law books, supposing that the room 
would soon get warm. lie died of pneumonia in four days. The 
walk warmed him up, but before the fire kindled w'ell he be¬ 
came chilled. 

Sitting in damp clothing after having walked briskly, even in 
warm weather, is a sufficient cause for pneumonia. A great 
many old men die of it in the winter time, simply because they 
do not dress warm enough. Every man after forty years of age, 
north of thirty-five degrees, ought to put on his warmest clothing 
cn the first day of November, and keep it on until the middle 
of June—that is, his inner clothing, the shirts which touch the 
skin of his body. This garment should be of thick, knitted yarn, 
thicker than any yarn stockings; on the first of December an 
article of the same kind should be worn as drawers. If this can¬ 
not be had, then two pair of woollen drawers, or at least one pair 
and a muslin pair over them; or, which may be still better, a 
common flannel shirt and over it a pervious doeskin shirt, or 
buckskin ; it is soft and admirably adapted to keep the warmth of 
the body in, and to keep the cold wind from reaching it. In this 
climate, so changeable, damp, and raw from New Year’s to the 
middle of April, a buckskin shirt should be worn over a woollen 
one by all women, by all sedentary persons, all students, and all 
men after fifty years of age. If any one man of intelligence can 
be induced to try it one winter fairly, and note the number of his 
days of indisposition, comparing them with any previous winter, 
there will be no difficulty in inducing him to repeat the experi¬ 
ment. To dress, sufficiently warm, comfortably so, from the hol¬ 
idays to May, would prevent multitudes of bad colds, with their 
greater multitudes of ill results, and the suggestion is most 
earnestly pressed upon the attention of all concerned. 

One.of the reasons why a good covering for the body in winter 


THE CROUP. 


717 


is so highly beneficial is that the only point where the lungs are 
attached to the body is between the shoulder-blades behind, and 
that is the most important part of the chest to be protected; 
every observant person knows how soon he begins to take cold, 
even in warm weather, if the back is toward a door or window 
even if closed, because the little drafts of air coming through 
the cracks and crevices and joinings strike directly between the 
shoulders and chill the blood at the very fountain-head, the 
lungs. Hence, by all possible means, keep the space between, 
the shoulder-blades behind well protected against the cold; a 
good expedient for gentlemen is to attach a padding of wool 
or cotton to the vest so as to cover the whole space; it will 
be found to be one of the greatest preventives of taking cold in 
winter-time ever tried, and costs but little of time or trouble or 
money. 

No. 17 is the trachea or windpipe, the seat of that fearful 
disease 

THE CROUP, 

# 

known to physicians as trachitis, or inflammation of the trachea. 
As stated elsewhere, croup is a congestion of blood in the arteries 
of the windpipe, congested to such an extent that the more 
watery portions of the blood exude and spread and thicken, 
until the windpipe is so nearly closed that breathing is difficult, 
and as the filling-up increases and the breathing becomes more 
labored, a kind of spasmodic contraction of the top of the wind¬ 
pipe takes place and the child is dead. 

Croup is the result of cold, especially if connected with damp 
clothing or wet stockings. No mother should ever put her child, 
under seven years, to bed without feeling the feet, and if not 
warm, by all and every means warm them, as it may end in croup 
before the morning. 

Being out of doors after sundown from November to May is a 
very frequent cause of croup in small children; in playing about 
their feet are very apt to get wet; or they get over-excited in 
their little play, are over-heated, and are very much inclined to 
stand in the wind, or at a corner on damp ground, or sit on a cold 
stone. 

Croup usually comes on with a slight increase in the frequency 


718 


BALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


of breathing about sundown or bedtime; the next morning it seems 
to be better and the mother is hopeful; but at night it is worse, 
and the third night or sooner it is regular croup; the child is rest¬ 
less, uneasy, it breathes hard and fast; the chest heaves, there is 
a kind of wheezing, barking, suppressed cough and dry; it does 
not seem to relieve any. 

If mothers would apply remedies the first night, croup is as 
easily cured as a common cold, when taken in time. The instant 
croupy threatenings are observed the child should be kept in¬ 
doors, should eat very light food indeed, and not much of that, 
until the symptoms have abated. Ilydropathists invest the 
throat immediately in cloths, wet with water, very cold, as near 
ice-cold as possible, but so as not to dribble about; the wet 
cloth . should be covered with a dry flannel one; these cloths 
should be renewed every two to ten minutes, according to the 
violence of the symptoms, to be continued by all means until the 
breathing is comfortably easy. 

If there is not -much fever, or if the skin is dry, put the child 
in a tepid bath of seventy-five degrees and then well wrapped 
up in a dry blanket until perspiration takes place. But if there 
is much fever and hot skin, use the wet pack sheet, and renew 
until the fever abates; the bowels should be emptied at once 
with a warm-water enema; by all possible means keep the feet 
and hands warm. If there is no expectoration and the child 
seems to be almost suffocating, give warm water copiously, until 
the use of a feather to tickle the throat induces vomiting; it is 
sometimes wonderful to see the good effects of this warm-water 
vomiting in cases of croup in children. 


HOMOEOPATHIC TREATMENT. 

As croup comes on with a short, difficult, or labored breathing, 
with a kind of whistling, squeaking sound, before the deep, hoarse- 
sounding cough is noticed, hepar sulpliuris is given, with a warm 
bath; the temperature of the room to be not less than sixty-five ; 
four globules in two tablespoonfuls of water, one*'teaspoonful 
every three hours until a decided change for the better; the mo¬ 
ment the child comes out of the bath it should be warmly wrapped 
up in bed. . ' 


THE CEO UP. 


719 


Use also a cold wet compress to tlie throat, covered with a 
piece of silk, overlapping the edges of the compress ; if no silk, 
cover with a dry flannel; wet the rag as soon as it becomes hot 
and before it gets dry. When there is thirst, dry cough, and 
hurried breathing, take six globules of aconite in two tablespoon¬ 
fuls of w r ater, use one teaspoonful every half hour until there is a 
decided abatement of the symptoms. But if decided relief is not 
obtained in three or four hours, the skin getting moist and breath¬ 
ing easier, but still difficult and wheezing, and the cough is drv, 
coarse, and hollow, then take spongia, six globules in two table¬ 
spoonfuls of water; a dose is one teaspoonful every half hour. 
Spongia is relied on of itself in many cases for the cure of croup 
when there is not very strong fever. 

If the patient is cold, exhausted, and sinking, give three glo¬ 
bules of arsenicum in a teaspoonful of water every ten minutes; 
if no prompt results, give, fifteen minutes after the third dose of 
arsenicum, three' globules of antimonium tartaricum in a teaspoon¬ 
ful of water or in powder, put far back on the tongue every five 
minutes until decided improvement takes place. In general, con¬ 
tinue to give hepar until all the diseased symptoms have passed 
away. It is of absolute importance in all practices to keep the 
patient abundantly warm throughout the attack, not less than 
sixty-five degrees; the slightest draught of air or chill should be 
carefully guarded against. The food should be warmed milk and 
water, half and half, during the sickness ; increase the food very 
gradually at each meal, avoiding all stimulating drinks and irri¬ 
tating or hard food—fruits and bread and berries, with a little 
lean meat-once a day. 


ALLOPATHIC TREATMENT 

goes on the principle that in no sickness is it of so much impor¬ 
tance to do something in the earliest stages of the disease as in 
croup. Nauseating remedies are considered indispensable. 


ALUM AND IPECAC. 

Mix half a teaspoon each of powdered alum and ipecac in 
half a glass of tepid water, and give it as quickly as possible; if 


720 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


it does not vomit in ten minutes by the watcli repeat the dose, 
with a teacup of warm water every live minutes until a feather 
or linger in the throat causes copious vomiting ; or, two grains of 
calomel every hour when the symptoms are not urgent; but in 
the urgent cases, after vomiting, give two grains of calomel every 
three hours until the bowels are acted upon. 

When there is a great deal of inflammation, indicated by high 
fever, the croupy cough and voice coming on very slowly and con¬ 
tinuing steadily to increase, with the difficult breathing with a 
stridulous sound, then give ten grains of calomel mixed with one 
drachm of saltpetre, called nitrate of potash, divide into twelve 
powders, and give one every two hours. 

The Greeks called croup the dog-choke, from its resemblance 
in the sound of the cough to the barking of a dog, as if something 
were drawn around his windpipe ; this choking sensation or re¬ 
sult is owing, in part, to the filling up of the windpipe with 
unnatural secretions and exudations, as explained in the article 
on Congestion, which see; this must be brought away, and vom¬ 
iting is the remedy, and, however inconvenient and distressing to 
the child, the means should be persisted in until the most decided 
relief is obtained; sometimes half-teaspoon doses of powdered 
alum is sufficient, but it is better to be on the safe side and use 
the ipecac with it, or the child will die; every moment adds to 
the chances of a fatal termination, and there should be no dally¬ 
ing or indecision. Croup is a disease which gets steadily worse 
every instant, but to wait, in hopes that it will pass away of itself, 
is trifling with life. 

Some give with great success two drops of the tincture of ve- 
ratrum viride. The great danger in croup is the hardening of the 
substance oozing out on the inside of the windpipe; it is known 
that lime antagonizes this hardening process, hence pour boiling 
water on unslaked lime, and cause the patient to breathe the 
steam of it; but this is very difficult to do in cases of children. 
Perhaps the easiest plan -would be to have the child in the 
mother’s lap, envelop both with a blanket, and introduce the ves¬ 
sel so that its fumes rising up should come into the mouth of the 
child, which would be naturally kept open to get air under such 
circumstances. All these things are mentioned because croup is 
so common, is so urgently dangerous, the oozing out is so rapid, 
that it takes but a very short time to nearly fill up the child’s 


TEE CROUP. 


721 


windpipe, whieli is not more than a quarter of an inch in diame¬ 
ter at two years of age. To sum up all, in the Allopathic treat¬ 
ment of croup the best plan is, as soon as a child is seen to he 
restless at bedtime—for it is after night that the disease is most 
apt to manifest itself—and the breathing is labored and loud, the 
breast heaving a great deal more than natural, whether there be 
any cough or not, give two teasj:>oonfuls at once of Epsom salts in 
a cup of warm water, so*as to unload the bowels as soon as possible, 
or use an enema ; at the end of ten minutes give the alum and 
ipecac emetic as before-named ; as soon as the vomiting has 
ceased, give every hour, until the bowels are acted upon, or at 
least until relief is most decided, one grain of calomel, five grains 
of nitrate of potash, with as much loaf sugar as would lie on a 
nickel cent; it can be given dry, put far back on the tongue, and 
washed down with water, or may be dissolved in two tablespoons 
or quarter of a teacup of water. If relief is not speedy put the 
child in a warm bath, its whole body, chin only above the water, 
having a cap on its head wet with cold water; in addition, dip 
flannels in boiling water, wring them out and apply to the throat, 
on the instant of applying, put a dry flannel over it to keep in 
the steam and renew every three minutes until decided relief has 
been obtained; ice-cold water, as advised by hydropathists, can 
be used in place of hot flannels, because a cold wet rag soon gets 
warm and conveys the heat away by evaporating rapidly. It may 
be known that the child is getting over the attack by the return 
to natural breathing, by coughing up the phlegm loosely, and be¬ 
coming lively, instead of being restless and uneasy. 

If the attack of croup is not very severe, if the cure is attempted 
at the beginning, the hydropathic method is simplest and best: 
ice-cold water to the throat, an enema, and warm water bath. 

Or ice-water or hot flannel compresses to the throat will cure 
in most cases, without any medicine at all. 

If a mother had once seen a case of child’s croup treated, she 
would then know precisely what to do and how to do it; but to 
treat a case herself for the first time, and that, too, under the re¬ 
sponsibility of its being her own child, it is scarcely possible to 
be too minute in the prescriptions, and to take it for granted that 

the young mother knows nothing. 

Remember then, first, that the sooner you begin to treat a case 
of croup the more certain is the cure ; that croup always comes 

46 


722 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


on by restlessness, uneasiness, and a heaving of the breast in 
breathing ; then the croupy, the barking, wheezing, imperfect 
cough ; these may be all slight, and indeed no cough at all the 
first evening, and you may hope that it will pass off, that may 
save yourself the trouble and the child the pain of treatment, and 
it may pass off, but to be more decided the next evening—for there 
is a tendency in most diseases to get worse at particular seasons, 
times, or hours—and the third evening it will come in all its vio- 
lence ; or the attack nfay have been so mild as not to have been 
observed ;—the first thing then is an enema or laxative medicine, 
then the ice-cold compresses or boiling water flannel, to be re¬ 
newed until the child is breathing easily, and is disposed to play 
or to be amused; if these encouraging symptoms do not soon ap¬ 
pear, put the child in a warm bath, if you have no thermometer 
to measure seventy-five degrees put your hand in to see whether 
it is cold enough to shock, or hot enough to burn, let it be me¬ 
dium ; put a cap on the head, wetted with cold water, not to 
dribble, put the feet in first, gradually sinking in the whole body 
in the course of a minute or two, then add hot water from time to 
time. The bath should be warmer when the child is taken out 
than when it was put in ; keep it in until the breathing is easy, 
and the phlegm is loose ; the instant of its coming from the 
bath, without taking time to wipe the body, envelop the child 
fully in a warm thick blanket, and in that blanket put it to bed. 

In applying the hot or cold cloths to the throat, be careful 
that no water dribbles on the clothing, and keep the feet and 
hands warm; all the time held, if possible, in some one’s hands. 

Recapitulation .—The careful mother should keep an eye to 
children under seven in damp, raw, cold weather, to notice the 
very first appearing of croup, for then it is easily cured, being 
nothing more than a common cold which has not seated itself: 
one of the very first indications is carrying the hand towards the 
throat; then begin at once to apply the wet ice-cold bandages as 
elsewhere named, until the inflammation is entirely subdued, 
keeping the child in the same warm room with herself all the 
time, at least sixty-five degrees; be specially careful that there 
shall be no draught of air blowing on the child, and that the feet 
and hands are quite warm ; do not ask the child to eat, but if 
hungry give some dry or toasted bread broken into hot tea, or 
gruel or sago, boiled rice, and the like, until all the symptoms 


SCROFULOUS SORES. 


723 


have disappeared. It is singularly claimed that the worst cases 
are sometimes relieved by a stout, strong, healthy person drawing 
a full breath, and blowing it on the child’s throat and chest, 
beginning under the chin; repeat it breath after breath, and renew 
every ten minutes; perhaps a bellows would do better on the prin¬ 
ciple of evaporation, and carrying off the heat. Onions cut into 
thin slices, each sprinkled over with loaf-sugar, soon yield a 
syrup; a teaspoonful of this sometimes gives grateful relief, repeat 
every ten minutes. 


•- <XK> - 

SCROFULOUS SORES. 

A few years ago a distinguished western millionnaire wrote of a 
favorite remedy for scrofulous ulcers: I have never heard of a 
case where it did not effect a speedy cure, and it can in no case 
do any injury. In several instances, where it has been applied 
to old sores, it has also speedily effected perfect cures. Put one 
ounce of aquafortis in a bowl or saucer; drop in it two copper 
cents—it will effervesce—leave the cents in; when the efferves¬ 
cence ceases, add two ounces of strong vinegar. The fluid will 
be a dark-green color. It should and will smart. If too severe, 
put in a little rain water. Apply it to the sore, morning and 
evening, by a soft brush or rag. Before applying it, wash the 
sore with water. Its first application known to me was a poor 
girl sent to our city from Memphis to have her leg cut off, as it 
was feared she might not live long enough to Have it cut off in 
that hot climate. She was refused admittance to the poor-house, 
and w r as lying on the sidewalk, as she could not even stand up. 
From her knee to her foot one-third of the flesh gone and all the 
skin, except a strip about two inches wide. She was laid on a 
bed, and the remedy placed on a chair by it. She could rise up 
and apply it. -In a few days her peace of mind returned, and she 
declared it was getting well. It was supposed it was a relief 
from the pain only, but when examined fresh flesh was found 
growing, and skin over it. She was soon running about and 
would work, which delayed the entire cure, leaving a small sore, 
which was in a few months entirely healed. A young girl, with 




724 


BALDS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


scrofula in her neck, having a large open hole, and deemed incur¬ 
able, came one month after, entirely cured, and recently married, 
with her husband, on their way to the East. I have never known 
a case where it did not effect a cure. This case is given to show 
how readily the organ of wonder is attached to what are called 
“ simple ” remedies. Everybody has seen a copper cent, every 
one knows or has heard of aquafortis. But pour some oil of 
vitriol, called white vitriol, on some copper; let it evaporate, and 
bluestone will be the result; a teaspoonful of this, in a pint of 
water, and used as a wash, night and morning, will cure any com¬ 
mon scrofulous sore; and it will kill, too, unless the bowels are 
kept freely acting every day, either with medicine or by the use 
a fruit and coarse bread diet, elsewhere described. 

There is one general truth in reference to scrofula, which, if 
acted upon with a reasonable amount of intelligence, would save 
millions of money, millions of lives, and would prevent an in¬ 
calculable amount of human suffering. In the first place, 
scrofula is utterly incurable by any human means. It is a blood 
impurity, a poison; and ever-watchful nature is constantly 
endeavoring to hustle it out of the system, as bees when an in¬ 
truder is found in the hive. In throwing this humor out, it 
poisons the skin in its exit, giving a variety of appearances, 
according to the part of the skin on which it appears, and accord¬ 
ing also to a variety of other circumstances of condition, habit, 
constitution, about which little is as yet certainly known as in 
tetter, ringworm, sore eyes, itchings, pimples, splotches, and 
dozens of other things. Everything done to “ cure ” any kind of 
breaking-out on the body, or to dry it up, or drive it in, is an 
absurdity ; it is a fighting against nature, and will always meet 
with a disastrous defeat. There are only two things to be done : 
1st. Improve the general health. 2d. Keep the bowels acting, 
averaging three times in two days. In addition, never touch these 
things with anything stronger than pure water or glycerine. 


ALLOPATHIC PRESCRIPTIONS. 


725 


ALLOPATHIC PRESCRIPTIONS. 

It is believed that the following (i recipes ” of the most eminent 
medical men who have lived within the last third of century are not 
equalled in numbers and value in any book yet published, for they are 
the result of the life-long experience and observation of members of 
the profession, who, by their ability, have earned the respect and confi¬ 
dence of the most distinguished living physicians ; and these are placed 
in the hands of the young practitioner, giving him at once advantages 
which others had at the close of life only. 

The names of the authors of these prescriptions are seldom given, in 
order to prevent too implicit reliance on them; that if in any given case 
the desired results were not promptly observed, other means might be 
used without loss of time. The list has been brought down to the pres¬ 
ent year, so as to have the fullest advantage of the very latest discoveries 
and improvements, making this alone worth many times the money 
value of the entire volume to beginners in medicine and to all country 
practitioners, for the recipes are mainly from the books and private 
memoranda of city physicians at home and abroad, who have had large 
and varied and wide fields of observation; and in this respect the author 
hopes to have not only private families his debtors, but the whole medical 
profession, making it at once the interest of the people and of physicians 
of all schools to have the work in their libraries. Special attention 
should be given to what follows, as in many cases life and death hang 
on the proper understanding of a prescription. Various prescriptions 
are given for the same disease; first, because all of the ingredients of 
one may not be had; second, sometimes one medicine may be poisonous 
to one person or inert in another, according to some peculiarity of the 
constitution or condition of the patient, just as some persons “ cannot 
bear ” one kind of healthful food, as onions, while many are passionately 
fond of them; third, a medicine often has a good effect for a short time, 
and then becomes useless; in such cases it is of great importance to 
know some other remedy which is closely allied to it; in -protracted 
cases it is often necessary to change several times. 

Although the following prescriptions are in plain English, and figures 
are not used for fear of mistakes, an alphabetical table or dictionary of 
the signs and terms used by medical men is given, that medical prescrip¬ 
tions may be safely interpreted when not otherwise clearly explained. 
Bear in mind that sixty drops make one teaspoonful; four teaspoonfuls 
make one tablespoon; two tablespoons make one ounce ; four table¬ 
spoons make one wineglass ; four wineglasses make one gill ; four gills 
make one pint. To save space, drachm, meaning one teaspoonful of 
liquid or sixty grains in weight, is spelled dram; and when there is the 
measure of a fluid ounce, the word fluid is left out, and oz. is a conti ac¬ 
tion for ounce. 


720 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


ABBREVIATIONS OF MEDICAL FORMS. 

It will be noticed that almost all the terms are Latin. "W here water 
is used to mix up medicines, it is to be understood that rain or snow 
water is best, or distilled water, or water which has been boiled. Spring 
or well or river waters have various ingredients, and some of them 
antagonize some medicines. But nine times out of ten the water used 
for drinking purposes is good enough. 

MEDICAL ABBREVIATIONS. 


1$. Recipe, take. 

A. aa, ana utriusque, of each, 
lb. Libra, a pound. 

1 . Uncia, an ounce, 
f 1 . A fluid ounce. 

3 . Drachma , a dram, 
f 3 . A fluid dram. 

3. Scrupulum, a scruple. 

Tlf. Minimum, a minim. 

ss. Semissis, half; jss., one and a half. 

j. One; ij., two; iij., three. 

Abs. Febr., in absence of fever. 

Ad., add. 

Ad lib. Ad libitum, at pleasure. 
Altern. hor., every other hour. 

Aq. Aqua, water. 

Aq. comm. Aqua com., common water. 
Aq. bull., boiling water. 

Aq. ferv. Aqua fervens, hot water. 

Aq. font. Aqua fontis, spring water. 
Bib. Bibe , drink. 

Bis. ind. Bis indies, twice daily. 

Bol. Bolus , a large pill. 

Bull. Bulliat, let it boil. 

Cap. Capiat, let him take. 

Chart. Chartula, a small paper. 

Cochl. Cochleare , a spoonful. 

Cochl. ampl. Cochleare amp. a table¬ 
spoonful. 

Cochl. mod., a dessertspoonful. 

Cochl. parv., a teaspoonful. 

Col. . Cole, strain. 

Collyr. CoUyHum, an eye-water. 
Comp. Compositus, compound. 

Conf. Confectio, confection. 

Cons. Conserva, conserve. 

Cont. Continuetur, be continued. 

C. or cong. Congius, a gallon. 

Coq. Coque, boil. 

Cort. Cortex, bark. 

C. M. Gras mane, to-morrow morning. 
C. N. Gras node, to-morrow night. 
Crast. Crastinus, for to-morrow. 

Cuj. Cuj us, of which. 

Cujusl. Cujuslibet, of any. 

Cyath. Cyathus, a glassful. 

Cyath. these, a cup of tea. 


D. Dosis, a dose. 

D. Detur , let it be given. 

Decub. Decubitus , lying down. 

Dec. Decanta, pour off. 

De D. in D., from day to day. 

Dep. Depuritus, purified. 

Dieb. altern., every other day. 

Dieb. tert. Diebus ter., every third day. 
Dig. Digeratur , let it be digested. 

Dil. Dilutus, dilute. 

Dim. Dimidius , one-half. 

Dist. DistiUa, distil. 

Div. Divide, divide. 

Ejusd. Ejusdem, of the same. 

Enem. Enema, a clyster. 

F. Fiat, let it be made. 

F. pil. Fiat pit., make into a pill. 

Feb. dur., fever continuing. 

FI. Fluidus and Flores , fluid and 
flowers. 

Gr. Granum, a grain. 

Gtt. Guttce, drops ; Gt., Gutta, a drop. 
Guttat. Guttatim, by drops. 

Hor. decub. Hard decubitus, at bed¬ 
time. 

Hor. interm., at intermediate hours. 

H. S. Hard son uni, at bed-time. 

Jnf. Inf unde , infuse. 

Ind. Indies, daily. 

Liq., liquor. 

Lb. or lib. Libra, a pound weight. 

M. Misce, mix. 

Mac. Macera , macerate. 

Man. Manipulus, a handful. 

Man. prim. Mane primo, early in the 
morning. 

Mic. pan. Mica panis, crumb of bread. 
Min. Minimum, the sixtieth part of a 
dram. 

Mitt. Mitte , send. 

Mist. Mistura, a mixture. 

Muc. Mucilago, mucilage. 

O. Octavius , a pint. 

01. Oleum, oil. 

Omn. bih. Omni bihoris, every two 
hours. 

Omn. hor. Omni hard, every hour. 


ALLOPATHIC PRESCRIPTIONS. 


727 


Omn. man. Omni mane , every morning. 
Omni nocte, every night. 

Oz. Uncia , an ounce. 

P. m. Partes cequales , equal parts. 

Pil. Pilula, a pill. 

P. It. N. Pro re natd , as occasion may 
be. 

Pulv. Pulvis, a powder. 

Q. S. Quantum sujficit, as much as 
wanted. 

Rad. Radix , a root. 

Rep. Repetatur , let it be repeated. 

Rec. Rectificatus , rectified. 

S. A. Secundum artem , according. to 
art. 

Sem. Semen , seed. 


S. Sumat , let him take. 

Solv. Dissolve. SS. one- 

half. 

Semi-H. half an hour. 

Sesquih. Sesquihora , an hour and a 
“half. 

Si op. sit. if there be need. 

St. let it stand. 

S. V. Spiritus vim , spirit of wine (al¬ 
cohol). 

S. V. R., spiritus vini rectificatus. 

Syr. Syrup us , syrup. 

Tr. and tinct., tinctura, tincture. 

Trit. Tritura , triturate. 

Y. 0. Vitellum ovi, white of egg. 


Anosmia and Debility.—E xtract of hemlock, one dram; sesquioxide 
of iron, two drams ; tincture of colomba, two oz. ; syrup of tolu, half an 
oz.; oil of partridge-berry, ten drops; water, two oz. Take one tea¬ 
spoonful night and morning. 

Sesquioxide of iron, four drams; extract dandelion, six drams ; sherry 
wine, five oz.; tincture of partridge-berry or gaultheria, three fluid 
drams; water, four oz. One tablespoonful twice a day. 

Citrate of iron, two and a half drams; syrup of orange-peel, two and 
a half oz. ; peppermint water, two oz.; water, four oz. One teaspoon¬ 
ful four times a day. q 

Phosphate of iron, sixty grains; sulphate of quinine, twelve grains. 
Mix and divide in twelve powders. Take one three times a day. 

Liquor of the iodide of iron, half an oz. Take fifteen drops in water, 
thrice daily. 

Tincture of chloride of iron, half an oz. ; take twenty drops thrice 
daily. 

Citrate of iron, two drams ; water, five oz. and a half; simple syrup, 
half an oz. Take from a teaspoonful to a tablespoonful thrice daily, 
before or after meals, for children. 

Amenorrhcea.—P owder of aloes, one to two scruples ; oil of cloves, 
five drops. Mix, and divide into twenty pills. Take one twice or thrice 
daily. 

Aloes, twenty grains ; Quevenne’s metallic iron (per hydrogen), half 
a dram ; oil of cloves, four drops. Mix, and divide into twenty pills. 
Take one thrice daily. 

Compound decoction of aloes, three oz. ; borax, one dram ; compound 
tincture of aloes, four drams; tincture of castor, half an oz.; water, 
two oz. Take a tablespoonful three times a day. 

Proto-iodide of mercury, three grains; iodide of potassium, two drams; 
tincture of gentian, three oz. ; water, two oz. ; simple syrup, one and a 
half oz. Take a teaspoonful three times a day. 

Powdered guaiac, four ounces ; carbonate of soda and carbonate of 
potassia, each fifty grains; powdered allspice, one dram; alcohol, one 
pint. Macerate four days, and add five fluid drams of spirits of am¬ 
monia. Take a teaspoonful three times a day in a glass of sweetened 
m^k. 

Sulphate of iron, one and a half drams; iodide of potassium, two 


72S 


HALL'S FAMLLY DOCTOR. 


drams; tincture of cardamom, one oz.; simple syrup, one and a lialf 
oz.; water, one oz. Mix, and take a teaspoonful three times a day. 

Carbonate of iron, three drams; tincture of colomba, two fluid 
drams; syrup of ginger, two fluid drams. One teaspoonful night and 
morning. 

Powdered alum, twenty grains; sulphate of iron, sixteen grains; calo¬ 
mel, five grains. Make sixteen pills. Take one thrice daily. 

Iodide of potassium, two drams; wine of colchicum, one and a half 
fluid drams ; syrup of sarsaparilla, three oz.; water, one oz. One tea¬ 
spoonful three times a day. 

Powdered aloes, two drams; sulphate of iron, forty grains; powdered 
myrrh, two drams. Divide into forty pills. Take two twice a day; 
bowels need moving. 

Wine of colchicum seed, one oz.; tincture of stramonium, four drams ; 
tincture of black snakeroot, or cimicifuga, one and a half oz. Take a 
teaspoonful three times a day, for painful menstruation. 

Citrate of iron, two drams; syrup of orange peel, two and a half oz. ; 
peppermint water, two oz.; water, three oz. One teaspoonful three 
times a day. 

Angina Pectoris, Retrocedent Gout. —Chloroform and aromatic 
' spirit of ammonia, each two fluid drams; Hoffman’s anodyne and pare¬ 
goric, each half an oz.; mucilage of gum-arabic, one oz. Mix. Take a 
teaspoonfuk at once. 

Angina Pectoris, or Gout of the Stomach. —Bicarbonate of soda, 
four scruples; aromatic spirit of ammonia, one fluid dram; compound 
spirit of ether, one oz.; compound tincture of cardamom, three fluid 
drams; water and mucilage of gum-arabic, each an oz. and a quarter. 
Mix. Take a dessert-spoonful or tablespoonful at once. 

Asthma. —Tincture of lobelia and wine of ipecacuanha, each an 
oz. Take one-half teaspoonful every half hour until expectoration or 
nausea occurs. 

Tincture of lobelia, one oz. Give two teaspoonfuls every half hour 
until vomiting. 

Blood-root, seventy grains; hot water, half a pint. One tablespoonful 
every ten minutes until vomiting. 

Solution of strychnine, two drams ; tincture of lobelia, two drams ; 
syrup of tolu, two oz. Take teaspoonful four times a day. 

Iodide of potassium, two drams; decoction of seneka, five oz. ; tinc¬ 
ture of lobelia, one oz.; paregoric, one oz. Take teaspoonful three 
times a day. 

Bronchitis. —Nitrate of potassa, two drams ; oxymel of squills, one 
oz. ; tincture of digitalis, a fluid dram ; vinegar, a tablespoonful; sugar 
and gum-arabic, each two drams; water, enough to make in all six 
oz. Mix. Take a tablespoonful every three hours. 

Bronchitis with Dry Cough. —Tartar-emetic, one grain; syrup of 
squills, three oz. Take a teaspoonful every four hours. 

Hydrocyanic acid, sixty drops; sulphate of morphia, three grains ; 
tincture of blood-root, one fluid oz. ; wine of ipecac, three drams; 
almond emulsion, four fluid oz. Take a teaspoonful three times a day. 

Hydrocyanic acid, thirty drops ; wine of antimony, half an oz. ; syrup 
of tolu, three drams ; mucilage of gum-arabic, two oz. One teaspoonful 
four times a day. 


PAT Hie PRESCRIPTIONS. 729 

P 

Hydrocyanic acid, one dram ; liquor potassa, half an oz.; infusion of 
colomba, two oz. ; almond emulsion, three and a half oz. Take a 
teaspoonful three times a day. 

Syrup of squills,' four oz. ; paregoric, one oz. Take a teaspoonful 
three times daily, and two at night. 

Muriate of ammonia, four drams; mucilage of gum-arabic, four oz. 
Mix. Take a tablespoonful four times daily. 

Balsam of copaiba, four fluid drams ; compound spirit of lavender, 
two fluid drams ; white sugar and gum-arabic, each two drams; water, 
enough to make six oz. Mix. Take a tablespoonful thrice daily. 

Decoction of seneka, four oz. ; iodide of potassium, two and a half 
drams; wine of antimony, four drams ; syrup of tolu, two. oz. Mix, 
and take a teaspoonful three times a day. 

Decoction of seneka, five oz. ; syrup of tolu, two fluid drams; 
paregoric, two and a half fluid drams; tincture of squills, two fluid 
drams; carbonate of ammonia, twenty grains. Mix, and take a tea¬ 
spoonful three times a day. 

Ammoniac mixture, six oz. ; syrup of squills, one and a half oz.; 
paregoric, half a fluid dram ; tincture of hyoseyamus, one fluid dram ; 
wine of ipecac, three fluid drams. Mix, and take a tablespoonful as 
required. 

Decoction of .seneka, three oz. ; honey of squills, two drams; 
wine of ipecac, two drams; wine of antimony, four drams. Give 
twenty drops every fifteen minutes until vomiting occurs, afterwards 
five drops every two hours. 

Decoction of seneka, five oz.; iodide of potassium, three drams; pare¬ 
goric, one and a half oz.; syrup of tolu, one and a half oz. Take a 
teaspoonful twice a day. 

Iodine, six grains ; iodide of potassium, one and a half drams ; tinc¬ 
ture of cardamom, one and a half oz.; compound syrup of sarsaparilla, 
three oz. Take a tablespoonful twice a day, for scrofulous cases. 

Syrup of the iodide of iron, seven drams ; iodide of potassium, twelve 
grains ; pure glycerine, one and a half oz. ; syrup of lemons, one oz. ; 
water, three and a half oz. One tablespoon thrice daily. 

Dover’s powder, or compound powder of ipecac, sixty grains ; tartar 
emetic, three grains; calomel, twelve grains ; mucilage of gum-arabic, 
a sufficient quantity to form a pilular mass. Divide in twelve pills. 
Take two morning and night. 

Powdered ipecac, sixty grains ; infusion of Virginia snake-root, six 
and a half oz.; paregoric, two and a half drams. Take a teaspoonful 
every hour. 

Tartar emetic, two drams ; powdered camphor, seventy grains ; fresh 
lard, one oz. Mix and form ointment. Wet the skin on front of the 
chest with strong vinegar, and then rub on thoroughly the ointment to 
produce pustular eruption. 

Biliousness. —Take a powder of rhubarb root, magnesia, and prepared 
charcoal powder, each a teaspoonful; powdered ginger, one teaspoonful. 
Mix, and divide into three parts. Take one every morning. 

Tartar emetic, four grains; powdered ipecac, twenty grains; water, 
four oz.; one tablespoonful every twelve minutes, until vomiting. 

Extract of gentian and powder of rhubarb, each half a dram; blue 


730 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


9 

mass, four grains ; oil of cloves, four drops. Mix, and divide into twenty 
pills. Take one three or four times daily for a few days, for bilious colic. 

Aromatic spirit of ammonia, and spirit of camphor, each a fluid dram ; 
tincture of ginger, two fluid drams; bicarbonate of soda, four scruples; 
peppermint water, enough to make four oz. Dose, a tablespoonful. 

Baldness, Premature. —Aromatic spirit of ammonia, spirit of rose¬ 
mary and glycerin, each an oz.; tincture of cantharides, three fluid 
drams; water, enough to make six oz. ; mix and rub into the scalp 
daily. 

Baldness. —Balsam of tolu, two drams; oil of rosemary, thirty 
minims; tincture of cantharides, two fluid drams; castor oil, four fluid 
drams; lard, an oz. Pub it into the head daily. 

Bladder, Irritated. —Dissolve one oz. of borax and three- oz. of 
glycerin in two oz. of water. Of this, for use, add two or three tea¬ 
spoonfuls to four oz. of warm water. Inject into the bladder through a 
catheter. 

Benzoic acid, two drams; water, six oz. Dissolve. Take a table¬ 
spoonful thrice daily. 

Brain Congestion : as a Cathartic. —Besin of jalap, half a dram to a 
dram; squills, fifteen grains to a scruple. Mix, and divide into twelve 
powders. Take one twice a day. 

Carbonate of manganese, one dram; carbonate of iron, one and a half 
dram ; powdered white sugar, one and a half dram. Mix, and divide into 
fifteen powders. Take one thrice daily. 

Carbonate of manganese, two drams; carbonate of iron, two and a 
half drams. 

Chlorosis.— Tincture of colomba, three oz. ; syrup sarsaparilla, four 
oz. One tablespoonful twice "daily. 

Sixteen grains each of aloes and sulphate of iron; make sixteen pills. 
Take one or two thrice daily. 

Syrup of iodide of iron. Take twenty-five drops thrice a day. 

Chorea, or St. Vitus 1 Dance. —Extract of hyoscyamus, one dram; 
valerianate of iron, two drachms. Mix, and divide in sixty pills. Take 
one three times a day; or purge, and then take— 

Black snake-root, one ounce; boiling water, one pint. Two table¬ 
spoonfuls three times a day. 

Extract of hyoscyamus, forty grains; valerianate of zinc, forty grains ; 
subnitrate of bismuth, sixty grains. Mix, and divide in forty pills. Take 
one three times a day. 

Consumption. —Cod-liver oil, thirty drams; alcohol, twelve drams; 
essence of peppermint, twenty-four grains. Mix. Take a dessert-spoonful 
thrice daily. 

Iodide of potassium, three drams; syrup of ipecac, two oz.; water, 
four oz. One teaspoonful thrice a day. 

Iodide of potassium, two drams; hydrocyanic acid, forty drops; sar¬ 
saparilla syrup, three oz.; water, one oz. Take one teaspoonful night 
and morning. 

© „ 

Muriate of ammonia, thirty grains; powdered opium, ten grains; 

powdered digitalis, twenty grains; powdered squills, twenty-five grains. 
Make thirty pills. Take one every six hours, to promote expectoration 
in early stages. 


ALLOPATHIC PRESCRIPTIONS. 


731 


Phosphate of manganese, two drams ; tincture of Peruvian bark, three 
oz. ; syrup of sarsaparilla, four oz.; mucilage of gum-arabic, one and a 
half oz.; oil of partridge-berry, twenty drops. Take two teaspoonfuls 
three times a day; shake before taking. 

Phosphate of manganese, two drams ; phosphate of iron, three drams; 
tincture of colomba, two and a half oz.; syrup of tolu, three and a half 
oz. ; essence of partridge-berry, one dram. Shake and take two tea¬ 
spoonfuls three times a day. 

Malate of manganese, two drams; tincture of Peruvian bark, two oz.; 
simple syrup, four oz.; essence of lemon, one and a half drams. Take a 
teaspoonful night and morning. 

Iodide of potassium, two drams; tartar-emetic, two grains ; syrup of 
ginger, two and a half oz.; water, three oz. Take a teaspoonful twice a 
day. 

Iodide of potassium, two and a half drains ; syrup of ipecac, two oz.; 
water, four and a half oz. Take a teaspoonful three times a day. 

Syrup of the iodide of iron, six drams; iodide of potassium, twelve 
grains ; pure glycerine, one oz. ; syrup of lemons, one and a half oz. ; 
water, three'and a half oz. Mix, and take a tablespoonful three times 
a day, before meals. 

Tincture of blood root or sanguinaria, a fluid dram; acetate of morphia, 
three grains ; antimonial wine, or wine of tartar-emetic, three fluid 
drams ; wine of ipecac, three fluid drams ; syrup of wild cherry bark, 
three oz. Mix, and take a teaspoonful three times a day. 

The above is said to be the original formula for “ Ayer’s Cherry Pec¬ 
toral.” 

Tincture of blood-root or sanguinaria Canadensis, one oz. ; tincture 
of opium or laudanum, two fluid drams ; wine of ipecac, six fluid drams; 
syrup of tolu, two and a half oz. Mix, and take sixty drops four times 
a day. 

Tincture of blood-root, one oz.; sulphate of morphia, one and a half, 
grains; tinpture of foxglove or digitalis, three drams; wine of tartar- 
emetic, one-half oz.; oil of partridge-berry, fifteen drops. Take thirty 
drops three times a day. 

Glycerine, three oz.; syrup of iodide of iron, four <*rams ; sulphate 
of morphia, two grains. Take a teaspoonful four times a day. 

Glycerine, three oz.; hypophosphite of soda, one oz.; sulphate of 
morphia, three grains. Take a teaspoonful four times a day. 

Iodide of potassium, one dram; proto-iodide of mercury, ten grains ; 
ointment of rose-water, one oz. Mix and form ointment. Hubbed on 
nio-ht and morning over the diseased lung, the above forms an excellent 


counter-irritant. 

Colic. —Chloroform, a fluid oz.; camphor water, water, and mucilage 
of gum-arabic, each a fluid oz. Mix. Dose, from a teaspoonful to a 

o z 

tablespoonful, repeated cautiously. 

Bicarbonate of soda, half a drachm ; aromatic spirit of ammonia, half 
a fluid dram; solution of morphia, half a fluid dram; syrup of ginger, 
half an oz. ; water, enough to make two oz. Mix. Dose, a teaspoon¬ 
ful, repeated if necessary. 

Carbonate of magnesia, sixty grains; tincture of assafetida, half a 
fluid dram; tincture of opium, forty drops; white sugar, two drams; 


732 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR, 


water, two oz. Mix, and give thirty drops as often as required; 
especially useful in flatulent colic, sour stomach, and diarrhoea of young 
children. Or : prepared chalk, sixty grains ; white sugar, sixty grains; 
powdered gum-arabic, two drams; cinnamon water, four oz. Mix, and 
give a teaspoonful three times a day. 

Spiced syrup of rhubarb, compound tincture of cardamom, paregoric, 
and water, each an oz. Mix. Dose, from a dessertspoonful to a 
tablespoonful. 

Cancer. —Dissolve in absolute alcohol as much pure tannin as it 
will dissolve in two days. Then add enough washed ether to make the 
thick tincture quite fluid. Saturate this with xyloidin or gun-cotton. 
Lastly, add twenty drops of tincture of benzoin. 

Dissolve one dram of pure tannin in as little absolute alcohol as will 
dissolve it, and then add it to one oz. of collodion. Use externally. 

Fowler’s solution of arsenic, two oz. ; compound liquor of the iodide 
of potassium, four drams. Take five drops in a little water three times 
a day, and use the following ointment externally: 

Iodide of lead, two drams; lard, two oz. Mix thoroughly, and 
rub the cancerous or other indolent tumor with it twice a day. 

Cholera. —Chloroform, laudanum, spirit of camphor, and aromatic 
spirit of ammonia, each a fluid dram and a half; creasote, four drops ; 
oil of cinnamon, eight drops; alcohol, two fluid drams. Twelve drops 
in some water is a dose. 

2. Chloroform, two fluid dfams ; spirit of camphor, a fluid dram ; 
alcohol, three drams. Mix. Dose, fifteen drops in water. 

Common Summer Cholera Morbus. —Magnesia, a dram; aromatic 
spirit of ammonia, a dram; water, four oz. Mix. To be shaken 
before administration. Take a teaspoonful every half hour. 

Chloroform, half a troy oz. ; camphor, one dram; the yolk of one 
egg; water, six oz. Rub the yolk in a mortar, first by itself, then 
with the camphor, previously dissolved in the chloroform, and lastly 
with the water, gradually added. This is the “ Mixture of Chloro¬ 
form,” of the United States Pharmacopoeia. Dose, two teaspoonfuls. 

Incipient Cholera Infantum. —Calomel, three grains; bicarbonate 
of soda, one scruple ; powder of ginger, twelve grains. Mix, and divide 
in twelve powders. Give one three or four times daily. 

Early Stage of Cholera Infantum. —Mercury with chalk, and 
powder of cinnamon, each fifteen grains. Mix, and divide into twelve 
powders. Give one thrice daily. 

Cholera Infantum. — Aromatic spirit of ammonia, twenty drops; 
paregoric, half a fluid dram to a fluid dram ; spiced syrup of rhubarb, 
an oz. ; peppermint water, enough to make two oz. Mix. Give a 
teaspoonful every three hours. 

To check the Diarrhoea of Cholera Infantum. —Tincture of kra- 
meria and paregoric, each a fluid dram; sugar and gum arabic, each 
half a dram; water enough to make two oz. Give a teaspoonful every 
three hours. 

Constipation. —Rhubarb root and Castile soap, each forty grains ; 
oil of anise, four drops. Mix, and divide into twenty pills. Take one 
or two as required. 

Rhubarb, Castile soap, and compound extract of colocvnth, each 


ALLOPATHIC PRESCRIPTIONS. 


733 


thirty-five grains. Mix, and divide into twenty pills. Take one or two 
as required. 

Rhubarb, two scruples; aloes, one scruple ; extract of nux vomica, 
five grains. Divide into twenty pills. Take one at a time. 

Bicarbonate of soda, one dram ; compound tincture of cardamom, one 
oz. ; spirit of camphor, one fluid dram ; syrup of rhubarb, half an oz.; 
water, enough to make four oz. Take a teaspoonful at once. 

Resin of podophyllum, two grains ; fluid extract of rhubarb and fluid 
extract of senna, each an oz. ; oil of cloves, five drops; syrup of 
ginger, half an oz.; mucilage of gum-arabic, enough to make four oz. 
Dose for an adult, a tablespoonful. 

To act upon the Bowels. —Cut a piece of good yellow soap to the 
shape, and rather less than the size, of the last joint of the little finger. 
Dip it in lard, and introduce it within the rectum. 

For Torpor of the Bowels. —Compound extract of colocynth and 
white soap, each forty grains; extract of nux vomica, five grains. Mix, 
and divide into twenty pills. Take one night and morning. 

Habitual Constipation. —Rhubarb and aloes, each half a dram; 
extract of belladonna, four grains ; oil of cloves, three drops. Mix, and 
divide into twenty pills. Take one twice daily. 

Constipation in Infants. —Resin of podophyllum, one grain ; simple 
syrup of rhubarb, an oz.; oil of fennel, one drop. Mix. Dose, half a 
teaspoonfiil. . 

Calomel, sixty grains ; 'ten drams white sugar, into five-grain powders, 
one at bedtime, put far back on the tongue, and rinse mouth well. 

Extract of podophyllum, one dram; aloes, three drams. Make sixty 
pills; one to four at bedtime. 

Extract of podophyllum, two drams; calomel, one dram; oil of caje- 
put, six drops. Make into sixty pills. Dose, two to five. 

Podophyllin, fifteen grains; powdered ginger, thirty grains; extract 
of gentian, forty grains. Make thirty pills. Take one to three, at bed¬ 
time. 

Podophyllin, sixty grains; white sugar, two oz. Mix thoroughly. 
Dose, six grains of the powder. An excellent substitute for calomel. 

Saturated tincture of blood-root or sanguinaria, two oz. ; compound 
tincture of aloes, two oz. Take sixty drops, twice a day. 

Powdered blood-root, and powdered rhubarb, each one dram; Castile 
soap, fifty grains. Mix and divide in thirty-two pills. Take one night 
and morning. 

Cough. —Musk, two scruples ; syrup of orange, two oz.; mucilage of 
gum-arabic, three oz. Mix. Take a tablespoonful every two or three 
hours. 

Violent, Troublesome Cough. —Dilute hydrocyanic acid, twenty 
drops; syrup of wild cherry and camphor-water, each one oz. Mix. 
Dose, a teaspoonful every two or three hours. 

Syrup of wild cherry and syrup of lactucarium, each two oz. Mix. 
Take a tablespoonful at night, or one or two teaspoonfuls during the 
day. 

Syrup of squills, two oz. ; Hoffman’s anodyne (compound spirit of 
ether) and solution of morphia (one grain in the oz.), each an 
oz. ; camphor-water and mucilage of gum-arabic, of each an oz. and a 
quarter. Mix. Dose, from a teaspoonful to a tablespoonful. 


734 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


Decoction of seneka, four oz.; syrup of tolu, half an oz.; sulphate of 
morphia, one grain ; extract of wild cherry bark, four drams. Take a 
tablespoonful as required. 

Canadian balsam, one oz. ; liquor potassa, one oz. ; wine of ipecac, 
four drams; syrup of tolu, one and a half oz.; water, two oz. Take a 
teaspoonful three times a day. 

Canadian balsam, six drams; cyanide of potassium, one and half 
grains; tincture of aconite, one dram; liquor potassa, one dram; 
syrup of tolu, five drams; water, three oz. Mix, and take a teaspoon¬ 
ful when required. 

Catarrh. —Saturated tincture of blood-root, or sanguinaria, two oz. ; 
wine of ipecac, two oz. Take fifty drops every four hours. An excel¬ 
lent febrifuge. 

Tincture of blood-root, one oz. ; laudanum, two drams; wine of 
ipecac, six drams; syrup of tolu, two and a half oz. Take sixty diops 
four times a day. 

Decoction of seneka, four oz.; iodide of potassa, two drams ; wine 
of antimony, four drams; syrup of tolu, two oz. Mix, and take a tea¬ 
spoonful four times a day. 

Powdered seneka, two drams; powdered ipecac, one dram; honey, 
two oz.; hot water, six oz. Take a teaspoonful, repeating as circum¬ 
stances require. 

Balsam copaiba, four drams; paregoric, one oz.; wine of ipecac, hall 
an oz. ; syrup of gum-arabic, two and half oz.; oil of partridge-berry, 
twenty drops. Take a teaspoonful three times a day. 

Acetate of morphia, four grains ; cyanide of potassium, three grains ; 
wine of antimony, and wine of ipecac, each two drams ; tincture of 
blood-root, five drams ; syrup of tolu, three oz. Mix, and take a tea¬ 
spoonful four times a day. 

Croup. —Powder of ipecacuanha and powder of alum, each a tea¬ 
spoonful. Mix with water. Pepeat in ten minutes until vomiting. 

Inflammatory. —Calomel, fifteen grains; nitrate of potassa, one 
dram; sugar, one scruple. Mix, and divide into twelve powders. 
Take one every three hours. 

Membranous. —Nitrate of silver, ten grains; water, half an oz. 
Dissolve. Apply with a camel’s-hair pencil to the throat. 

Tartar-emetic, one grain; powdered ipecac, ten grains; warm water, 
four oz. Give a teaspoonful every fifteen minutes until the child vomits. 

Sulphate of zinc, ten grains; powdered ipecac, twenty grains; warm 
water, four oz. Give a teaspoonful every ten or fifteen minutes until 
vomiting. 

Turpeth mineral, or yellow smphate of mercury, ten grains; simple 
syrup, five drams. Mix, and give a teaspoonful every twelve minutes 
until vomiting. 

Blood-root, sixty grains ; hot water, half a pint. Mix and macerate for 
an hour, and give teaspoonful every fifteen minutes until the child vomits. 

Wine of ipecac, three drams; syrup of tolu, four drams; mucilage 
of gum-arabic, one oz. Mix, and give a teaspoonful every two hours. 

Powdered ipecac, sixty grains; infusion of Virginia snakeroot, or 
serpentaria, six oz.; paregoric, two drams. Mix, and give a teaspoon¬ 
ful every hour or every half hour. 


ALLOPATHIC PRESCRIPTIONS, 


< OO 

Cathartic. —Resin of jalap, thirty grains. Divide into three parts. 
Give one every four hours till they operate. 

Cathartic and Cholagogue.— Resin of podophyllum, three grains; 
Turkey rhubarb, eight grains; oil of anise, two drops. Divide into 
eight pills. Take one or two at once. 

As a Powerful Cathartic, in rare Cases. —Croton oil, five drops; 
crumb of bread or conserve of roses, a sufficient quantity to make four 
pills. Mix, and divide. Take one every four hours, until they operate. 

Prompt Cathartic. —Mix a tablespoonful of oil, and the same of 
molasses, with a pint of warm water, in which a little Castile soap has 
been dissolved. Inject into the rectum with a syringe. 

For Flatulent Pain in the Bowels. —Oil of cajeput, half a dram; 
compound spirit of lavender, an oz.; syrup of ginger, two fluid drams; 
mucilage of gum-arabic, enough to make two oz. Take a dessert¬ 
spoonful at once. 

Dyspepsia. —Hydrocyanic acid, sixty drops; extract belladonna, ten 
grains; tincture colomba, one oz.; simple syrup, one and a .half oz.; 
water, one and a half oz. Mix, and take a teaspoonful four times 
a day. 

Extract mix vomica, thirty-two grains; tincture cardamom, one and 
a half oz. ; syrup of ginger, one oz. ; water, one and a half oz. Take 
twenty-five drops three times a day. 

Extract nux vomica, four grains ; extract opium, six grains. Divide 
into sixteen pills. Take one .night and morning. 

Nux vomica, forty grains; oxide of silver, sixteen grains; extract 
gentian, one and a half drams. Mix, and divide in sixty pills. Take 
one three times a day. 

Subnitrate of bismuth, one dram; powdered colomba root, three 
drams; powdered gum-arabic, two drams. Mix, and divide into twenty 
pills. Take one three times a day. 

Strychnine, twelve grains; acetic acid, sixty drops; alcohol, one 
and a half oz. ; water, ten oz. Mix, and take ten drops, slowly increas¬ 
ing to thirty, three times a day. 

Solution strychnine, half an oz.; tincture cardamom compound, three oz. 
Mix, and take a teaspoonful three times a day. 

Bichloride of mercury, or corrosive sublimate, four grains; tincture 
of nux vo nica, half an oz.; compound tincture of rhubarb, two oz.; 
Syrup of orange-peel, one and a half oz. Mix, and take a teaspoonful 
three times a day. 

Pill of carbonate of iron (Valleix’s mass), two scruples; or, Que- 
venne’s metallic iron, per hydrogen, thirty grains; sulphate of quinia, 
one scruple ; alcoholic extract of nux vomica, five grains. Mix, and di¬ 
vide into twenty pills. Take one thrice daily. 

Compound tincture of gentian, and tincture of rhubarb, each three 
oz. Mix. Take two teaspoonfuls before each meal. 

Extract of gentian, and powder of rhubarb root, each half a dram. 
Mix, and divide into sixteen pills. Take two thrice daily. 

Dropsy.— Extract hemlock, or c-onium, one dram; powdered cantha- 
rides, forty grains ; calomel, thirty grains; powdered ipecac, twenty 

ains. Mix, and divide into forty pills. Take one three times a day. 

Tincture of black snake-root, or cimicifuga, one oz.; tincture of 


736 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


myrrh, six fluid drams; tincture of opium, one dram; tincture of Cay-" 
enne pepper, one and one-half drams. Take forty drops four times a 

day ‘ 

Compound powder of ipecac, sixty grains ; tartar-emetic, three grains ; 
calomel, twelve grains. Make twelve pills. Take two night and morn¬ 
ing. 

Infusion of juniper, six oz.: spirits of nitric ether, one oz.; compound 
tincture Peruvian bark, one oz.; tincture of cardamom, four drams. 
Mix, and take a tablespoonful every four hours. 

Infusion of digitalis, or foxglove, six oz.; corrosive sublimate, or 
bichloride of mercury, two grains ; tincture of Spanish flies, or cantha- 
rides, two drams ; peppermint water, two ounces. Take a tablespoonful 
three times a day. 

Camphor mixture, seven ounces ; spirits of nitric ether, one and one- 
half oz.; tincture of digitalis, or foxglove, four drams; tincture of 
opium, two drams; tincture of colomba, one oz. Take a tablespoonful 
twice a day. 

Tincture of colchicum, one-lialf oz. ; infusion of juniper, six oz.; com¬ 
pound tincture of orange-peel, one oz. ; carbonate of potassa, two drams ; 
nitrate of potassa, or saltpetre, one dram. Take two tablespoonfuls 
four times a day. 

Wine of colchicum, two drams ; tincture of digitalis, six drams ; iodide 
of potassium, two and one-lialf drams ; compound syrup of sarsaparilla, 
two oz.; pure water, three oz. Mix, and take a teaspoonful four times 
a day; or, 

Elaterium, or wild cucumber, five grains; powdered digitalis, or fox¬ 
glove, fifteen grains; extract of gentian, forty grains. Make twenty 
pills. Take one morning and night. 

Sweet fennel water, six oz. ; tincture of Spanish flies, or cantharides, 
two drams; spirits of nitric ether, one oz. ; syrup of orange-peel, one 
oz. Mix, and take a tablespoonful twice a day. 

Compound tincture of Peruvian bark, three oz.; compound tincture 
of cardamom, two and one-lialf ounces; tincture of Spanish flies, three 
drams; syrup of gum-arabic, one oz. Take two teaspoonfuls three 
times a day. 

Juniper berries, two oz.; saltpetre, or nitrate of potassa, four drams; 
white wine, two pints. Take two tablespoonfuls three times a day. 

Dropsical Effusion.— Bruised juniper berries, one oz. ; infuse for 
three hours in a pint of hot water; pour off, and add a tablespoonful of 
bitartrate of potassa. Stir and drink it through the day. 

Citrate of potassa, two hundred grains; tincture of squills, two fluid 
drams ; wine of colchicum root, two fluid drams; liquor of acetate of 
ammonia, two fluid drams; infusion of digitalis, two oz. ; peppermint 
water, enough to make eight oz. Mix. Take half a wineglassful thrice 
daily. 

Take of bitartrate of potassa, an ounce ; extract of taraxacum, half a 
dram; decoction of taraxacum, six oz. Mix. Take half a wineglassful 
two or three times a day. 

Bruised j uniper berries, mustard seed, and ginger, each half an oz. ; 
bruised horseradish and parsley root, each an ounce; sound old cider, 
a quart. A wineglassful thrice a day. 


ALLOPATHIC PRESCRIPTIONS. 


737 


Diarrhcea. —Compound spirits of lavender, an oz. ; spirit of cam¬ 
phor, a fluid dram; laudanum, half a fluid dram ; sugar and gum- 
arabic, each a dram; cinnamon water, enough to make six oz. Mix. 
Dose, a tablespoonful once in three hours. 

Obstinate. —Acetate of lead, fifteen grains; acetate of morphia, one 
grain; gum-arabic, two drams ; cinnamon water, enough to make eight 
oz. Mix. Take a teaspoonful every three or four hours. 

Slight Diarrhoea. —Spiced syrup of rhubarb, half an oz. ; magnesia, 
twenty grain's; cinnamon-water- and camphor-water, each two fluid 
drams. Mix. Take in two doses, three hours apart. 

Prepared chalk, two drams; white sugar and gum-arabic, each a 
dram and a half; tincture of kino, two fluid drams and a half; lau¬ 
danum, thirty drops; peppermint water, enough to make six oz. Mix. 
Dose, a tablespoonful. 

Extract nux vomica, four grains ; extract of opium, six grains. Make 
into sixteen pills. Take one night and morning. 

Powdered ipecac, fifteen grains; peppermint water, four oz. Take 
tablespoonful every ten minutes until vomiting supervenes. 

Tincture of catechu and paregoric, each half a fluid oz. Mix. Take 
a teaspoonful every three hours. 

To Check Diarrhoea. —Tannic acid, thirty-six grains; powder of 
opium, three grains. Divide into ten pills. Take one every three 
hours. 

Incipient Dysentery.— Blue mass, twelve grains ; powder of ipe¬ 
cacuanha, six to twelve grains. Mix, and divide into ten pills. Take 
one every three hours. 

Incipient Acute Dysentery. —Mix one tablespoonful of castor-oil 
thoroughly with three tablespoonfuls of spiced syrup of rhubarb," and 
administer it immediately after mixture. To the above prescription 
add ten, or twenty, or thirty drops of laudanum. Useful in incipient 
acute dysentery. 

Opium, ten grains; camphor, three grains ; white soap, twenty 
grains; nitrate of silver, eight grains. Make thirty pills. One thrice 
daily. 

Tincture of catechu, one and a half fluid drams; cinnamon water, 
five drams; tincture of opium, two drams; simple syrup, one and a 
half oz. Mix, and take a tablespoonful after every evacuation. 

Oil of turpentine, two drams; tincture of opium, two drams; pow¬ 
dered gum-arabic and white sugar, each three and a half drams; water, 
two and a half ounces. Mix, and give a teaspoonful every twenty 
minutes. ... 

Early Stage of Dysentery.— Blue mass, ten grains ; ipecacuanha, 
six grains ; camphor, twelve grains. Mix, and divide into twelve pills. 
Take one every three hours. 

Dysentery.— Camphor, eighteen grains; ipecacuanha, six grains; 
opium, five grains. Mix, and divide into twelve pills. Take one every 
three or four hours. 

Acetate of lead, twenty-five grains; opium, three to twelve grains. 
Mix, and divide into fifteen pills. Take one every four hours. 

Nitrate of silver, eight grains; powdered opium, twenty grains. 
Make twenty pills. One every two hours until relieved. 

47 


733 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


Oascarilla, one oz.; cinnamon, four drams; gentian, two drams; nux 
vomica, two drams ; water, eight oz. Mix, and form infusion, and add 
four oz. of white sugar. Dose, from two to four tablespoonfuls, re* 
peated according to circumstances. 

Prepare half an ounce of starch, thin enough to be drawn into a 
syringe; add sixty or more drops of laudanum, according to the case, 
mix, and inject into the bowel. 

Obstinate Chronic Dysentery. —To four fluid oz. of flaxseed tea, 
made without boiling, add fifty drops of laudanum, and from four to ten 
grains of sulphate of zinc. Mix, and inject into the rectum. 

Asthenic, Malarious Dysentery. —Quinine, thirty grains; camphor, 
two scruples; ipecacuanha, five grains; opium, ten grains. Mix, and 
divide into twenty powders (or pills). Take one every three or four 
hours. 

Tincture of camphor, one and a half oz.; tincture of Cayenne pepper, 
half an oz.; compound spirits of lavender, one and a half oz.; tincture 
of opium, one oz. Mix, and take sixty drops every hour. 

Chalk mixture, six oz.; spirit of cinnamon, one and a half oz.; aqua 
ammonia, one and a half dram; tincture of opium, fifty drops. Take two 
tablespoonfuls, as circumstances require. 

Dysmenorrhgea. —Spirits of camphor, one fluid dram; paregoric, three 
fluid drams; tincture of ginger, half a fluid dram ; compound spirit of 
lavender $ half an oz.; water, enough to make three oz. Mix. Take a 
dessertspoonful every hour or two. 

Extract of belladonna, eight grains; powdered camphor, one dram; 
sulphate of quinine, forty grains. Make thirty pills. Take one every two 
hours until pain is relieved. 

Extract of belladonna, eight grains; powdered ipecac, ten grains; sul¬ 
phate of zinc, thirty grains. Make thirty pills. Take one every four 
hours until pain is relieved. 

Diphtheria. —One part of muriatic acid, and three parts of honey; 
apply to the throat in diphtheria with a soft sponge, fastened to a piece 
of whalebone. 

Chlorate of potassa, three drams; peppermint water, five oz. Dis¬ 
solve. Take a tablespoonful every three hours. 

Chloride of potassa, two drams ; tincture of chloride of iron, one dram ; 
simple syrup and water, each two fluid oz. Mix. Take a tablespoOnful 
every three hours. 

Carbolic acid, twenty-five minims.; acetic acid, half a dram; honey, 
two drams; tincture of myrrh, two drachms; water, enough to make 
six oz. Mix together the acids first, and then, gradually, the honey 
and water. 

Delirium Tremens. —Solution of . sulphate of morphia, and fluid 
extract of valerian, each two oz. Take two teaspoonfuls at a time until 
quietude is secured. 

Epilepsy.— Take of iodide of potassium, one dram; bromide of potas¬ 
sium, one ounce ; bromide of ammonium, two drams ; bicarbonate of 
potassa, two scruples; infusion of colomba, six oz. Dissolve. Dose, 
a teaspoonful before each meal, and one fablespoonful at bedtime. 
Brown-Sequard. 

Mix together eight grains of crystallized carbolic acid and two oz. each 


ALLOPATHIC PRESCRIPTIONS. 


739 


of water and nmcilage of gum-arabic. Dose, a tablespoonful every three 
or four hours. 

Dissolve half an oz. of hydrate of chloral and twenty-five drops of 
essence of peppermint in four oz. of pure glycerine. Dose, a dessert¬ 
spoonful (two teaspoonfuls) with water . 

Emaciation. —Fusel oil, thirty drops ; syrup, four oz. One teaspoon¬ 
ful for a child of six months, thrice a day. 

Eczema. —Powder of krameria, half an oz. ; prepared chalk, 3 drams; 
dry starch, an oz. and two drams. Mix. To be dusted on the skin. 

Carbonate of potassa, two drams; glycerine, two drams; lard, two 
oz. Mix. 

Erythema. —Acetate of zinc, two grains dissolved in one fluid dram 
of rose-water. Mix with one oz. of cold cream. Apply 'externally. 

Carbonate of lead, five grains; glycerine, two teaspoonfuls; simple 
cerate, one oz. Mix. 

Sulphate of copper, six grains; water, two oz.. Dissolve. Use as 
lotion. 

Eruptions on the Face. —Oxide of zinc, three drams ; lard, one oz. 
Mix. Apply locally. 

Earache. —Glycerine and warm water, each one teaspoonful. Mix. 
Pour into the ear from a teaspoon night and morning. 

Mix half a teaspoonful of warm olive oil with three drops of laudanum. 
Pour it into the ear. 

Emollient.— Mix together two drams of starch and three oz. of 
Price’s .glycerine, cold; heat gradually to 230° Fahr., stirring all the 
time; then let it cool. 

Eyelids. —To an oz. of water add one drop of Goulard’s extract 
of subacetate of lead. Apply this with a camel’s-liair pencil to the 
outside of the lids twice a day. 

Eye-Water. —Three grains of alum; water, one oz. Dissolve. 
Drop into the eye from a quill or a hair-pencil once or twice daily. 

Nitrate of silver, five grains; distilled water, one oz. Dissolve. 
Apply to the inside of the lids with a hair-pencil, or drop between the 

lids. 

Carbonate of lead, two drams; simple cerate, one oz. 

Ophthalmia. —Carbonate of lead, seventy grains; glycerine, 
ozs. Mix. As a local application for ophthalmia (to the outside 
of the lids with a hair-pencil). 

Sulphate of atropia, two grains; water, one oz. Dissolve. Drop 
into the eye once or twice daily, to dilate the pupils. 

Fever. —Epsom, salts,^one oz. ; tartar-emetic, one-half grain; syrup, 
one oz.; pure water, six oz. Mix, and take a tablespoonful every 

hour. 

Liquor of the acetate of ammonia, two oz. ; spirits of nitrous ether, 
four drams; wine of antimony, four drams; syrup of gum-arabic, one 
oz. Take a teaspoonful every hour. 

Tartar-emetic, two and a half grains; cinnamon water, two oz.;. 
syrup, four drams; water, four oz. One teaspoonful hourly. 

" Dissolve fifty grains of carbonate of ammonia in four oz. of water, 
and add pure vinegar slowly, until it ceases to effervesce. This 
will substitute the “ liquor ammoniac acetatis,” or spiritus Mindereri. 


7-10 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


Dose, two tablespoonfuls with as much of water, every two hours, as a 
diaphoretic. 

Bicarbonate of potassa, twenty grains ; paregoric, two drams ; water, 
eight oz. Mix, and take a tablespoonful every half hour. 

Carbonate of soda, forty grains ; spirits of nitric ether, one oz. ; syrup 
of ginger, one oz.; water, one and a half oz. Take two tablespoonfuls 
every two hours. 

Nitrate of potassa, three drams; tartar-emetic, one grain; water, six 
oz. Mix, and take two teaspoonfuls every two hours. 

Intermittent Fever. —Sulphate of cinchona, fifty grains ; aromatic 
sulphuric acid (elixir of vitriol), a fluid dram and a half; compound 
tincture of cardamom, half an oz. ; water, enough to make four oz. Take 
a teaspoonful or two as required. 

In the Chill of Pernicious Fever. —Powdered capsicum, a dram. 
Divide into twelve pills. Take one every hour. 

Sulphate of quinine, forty grains ; aromatic sulphuric acid (elixir of 
vitriol), a fluid dram and a half; oil of cloves, four drops ; mucilage of 
gum-arabic, an oz.; peppermint water, enough to make in all four 
oz. Mix. Take a teaspoonful or two every three or four hours 
in asthenic pneumonia ; but larger doses, or the same at shorter intervals, 
for intermittent fever. 

Divide twenty grains of sulphate of quinine into ten pills. Take one 
every two hours. 

Pernicious Fever, No. 4.—Calomel, quinine, and camphor, each 
eight grains; opium, two grains. Divide into six pills. Take one every 
hour or two. 

Low Fever. —Nitro-muriatic acid, half a fluid dram; sweet spirits of 
nitre, half an oz.; camphor-water, five and a half oz. Dissolve. Take 
a tablespoonful every two hours. 

Typhus Fever.— Nitric acid, forty drops; water, six oz. Dissolve. 
Take one or two tablespoonfuls every three hours. 

Fever. —Citrate of potassa, two drams; lemon syrup, half an oz. ; 
water, three oz. Mix. Dose, a tablespoonful every two hours, with 
one of water. The lemon syrup may be omitted without disad¬ 
vantage. 

Typhoid Fever. —Liquor of acetate of ammonia, three and a half 
oz.; sweet spirits of nitre, half an oz. Mix. Take a tablespoonful 
every two hours. 

Favus, where two hairs grow in a yellow crust*—Bichloride of mer¬ 
cury, four grains ; alcohol and distilled water, each an oz. Dissolve. 

Castralgia-—Stomach-ache.— Extract belladonna, twelve grains ; 
sulphate quinine, thirty grains. . Make thirty pills. Take one three 
times a day. 

Laudanum, three drams; tincture Cayenne pepper, two and a .half 
drams; sulphuric ether, three and a half drams; tincture camphor, 
three drams; chloroform, one dram. Take a tablespoonful when 
needed. 

Extract hyoscyamus, one dram ; nitrate silver, ten grains ; subnitrate 
of bismuth, two drams. Make forty pills. Take one night and 
morning. 

Extract lupulin, one dram; nitrate of silver, twenty grains; sub- 


ALLOPATHIC PRESCRIPTIONS. 


741 


nitrate of bismuth, two drams; sulphate of quinine, forty grains. 
Make forty pills. Take one three times a day. 

Extract coniiun, one drachm ; nitrate silver, ten grains; powdered 
Cayenne pepper, forty grains ; sulphate quinine, forty grains. Make 
forty pills. Take one three times a day. 

Gravel. —Bicarbonate of soda, three drams ; sweet spirits of nitre, 
five fluid drams; peppermint water, enough to make six oz. Dissolve. 
Take a tablespoonful three or four times daily. 

Bicarbonate of soda, two drams ; phosphate of soda, half - an oz. ; 
benzoic acid and gum-arabic, each three drams; sweet spirits of nitre, 
half an oz. ; peppermint water, enough to make six oz. Mix. Take 
from a teaspoonful to a tablespoonful occasionally. 

Gout. —Carbonate of potassa and nitrate of potassa, each two and a 
half drams; water, seven oz. Dissolve. Take a tablespoonful thrice 
daily. * 

Gout and Gouty Bheumatism.— Wine of colchicum root, one fluid 
dram; Husband’s magnesia, one drachm; water, four oz. Mix. Take 
a tablespoonful thrice daily. 

Wine of colchicum root, one fluid dram ; bicarbonate of potassa and 
Rochelle salts, each two and a half drams ; water, four oz. Mix. Take- 
a tablespoonful thrice daily. 

Tincture of rhubarb and senna, one and a half oz. ; syrup of 
ginger, four drams ; laudanum, one fluid dram. Mix. Take a tea- 
spoonful at once in hot water. 

Gonorrhoea, No. 2. — Copaiba, half an oz. ; compound spirit of lav¬ 
ender, two fluid drams; sugar and gum-arabic, each two drams; water, 
enough to make six oz. Take a tablespoonful thrice daily. 

Oil of cubebs, two drams; sweet spirit of nitre, half an oz. ; 
sugar and gum-arabic, each two drams; water, enough to make six 
oz. Mix. Take a tablespoonful thrice daily. 

Injection for Gonorrhoea, No. 1,— Sulphate of zinc, four grains ; 
water, two oz. Dissolve. Use once daily. 

No. 2.—Solution of subacetate of lead (Goulard’s), one dram ; 
water, five oz. Use once daily. 

No. 3.—Chloride of zinc, two grains; glycerine and water, each an 
oz. Dissolve. Use once daily. 

Gargle.— Dissolve seven drops of creasote in two oz. of glycer¬ 
ine, diluted with an equal bulk of water; one pint of water, two heap¬ 
ing tablespoons of common salt, a heaping teaspoonful of powdered 
alum, and a level tablespoonful of ground red-pepper; or, a pint of red- 
pepper tea, and a level tablespoonful of salt and alum. 

Hemorrhages.— Gallic acid, two drams; syrup of cinnamon, four 
oz. Mix. Take a" dessert-spoonful every two, three, or four hours. 

Oil of turpentine, three drams ; compound spirits of lavenders, half an 
oz. ; laudanum, twenty minims ; sugar and gum-arabic, each two drams ; 
water, enough to make six oz. Mix. Take a tablespoonful at once. 

Ammonio-ferric alum, two scruples ; water, four oz. Dissolve. Take 
a tablespoonful every two or three hours, in hemorrhages. 

Astringent in Hjematemesis.— Creasote, twenty drops; conserve 
of roses (or extract of gentian), one dram. Mix, and divide into sixteen 
pills. Take one every two, three, or four hours. 


742 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


Hooping-cough. —Hydrocyanic acid, twenty-five drops; wine of 
ipecac, two drams; syrup of tolu, one and a half oz. ; water, three oz. 
Take a teaspoonful every four hours. 

Blood-root, one dram; hot water, half a pint. Give from a teaspoonful 
to a tablespoonful, according to age, every fifteen minutes, until vomit¬ 
ing. 

Tincture of lobelia, one oz.; syrup of scpiills, one oz. Twenty-five 
drops three times a day. 

Iodide of potassium, one and a half drams, bitter almond water, three 
drams; paregoric, two drams ; tincture of musk, two drams; alcohol, 
two drams; water, four oz. Take a teaspoonful as often as needed. 

Syrup of ipecac, two fluid drams and a half; syrup of squills, one 
tablespoonful; mixture of assafoetida, enough to make two oz. Mix. 
Give one or two teaspoonfuls thrice daily. 

Severe Hooping-cough. —Extract of belladonna, one grain; mucil¬ 
age of gum-arabic, three oz. Mix. Give two teaspoonfuls thrice daily. 

Fluid extract of hyoscyamus, half a fluid dram ; orange-flower water, 
or camphor water, three oz. Mix. Give two teaspoonfuls every three 
hours. 

Hypertrophy of the .Heart. —Acetate of lead, half a dram; 
opium, four grains ; crumb of bread, a sufficient quantity. Mix, and di¬ 
vide into twenty pills. Take one.thrice daily. 

Norwood’s tincture of veratrum viride, half an oz. Take four 
drops every four hours. If nausea or prostration follow, withdraw or 
diminish the. dose. 

Over-rapid Action of the Heart. —Powder of digitalis, one grain, 
thrice daily. 

Tincture of digitalis, half an oz. Take ten drops thrice daily, in 
water. 

Iodide of potassium, two and a half drams; tincture of hyoscyamus, 
four drams ; tincture of digitalis or foxglove, half anoz.; compound syrup 
of sarsaparilla, six oz. Take a teaspoonful night and morning, for heart 
enlargement. 

For irregular action of the heart, Dr. Austin Flint, who is high 
authority, relies on digitalis to increase the power of ventricular con¬ 
tractions. For difficult breathing he recommends ethers, dry cuppings, 
and revulsive applications. For general dropsy, elaterium comes first as 
a cathartic of water, as it can be given for a long time without depres¬ 
sion. For anaemia, as a result of lieart-affection, he commends a nutri¬ 
tive diet, chalybeate tonics ; to cease nursing, or whatever else may 
debilitate. 

Headache.— A cup of strong tea is sometimes a temporary remedy; 
but for sick headache take two teaspoonfuls of pulverized charcoal in 
half a glass of water. 

Headache from Sour Stomach , or Sick Headache. —Aromatic spirit 
of ammonia, six drams ; bicarbonate of soda, one and a half drams ; in¬ 
fusion of cascarilla, eight oz. Take two tablespoonfuls twice a day. 

Carbonate of magnesia, thirty grains; sulphate of magnesia, or Ep¬ 
som salts, tw r o and a half drams; aromatic spirit of ammonia, one 
dram; tincture of rhubarb, half an oz. ; tincture of hyoscyamus, four 
drams; water, half a pint. Take one tablespoonful thrice a day. 


ALLOPATHIC PRESCRIPTION'S. 


743 


Twenty or thirty drops of turpentine, every hour or two, not only re¬ 
moves headache, but has a delightfully soothing influence in frontal 
headache resulting from protracted physical exertion or mental effort, 
as also that severe headache to which nervous and hysterical women 
are subject. 

For periodical headaches. —First, what is proper to-be done during the 
attack ; second, what is proper in the interval. In such cases there 
is always constipation of the bowels, consequently if he begins treat¬ 
ment during the interval, he gives one or two of the following pills: 
Blue mass, extract of colocynth, socotrine aloes, each twelve grains; 
ipecac, six grains. Make twelve pills. To be followed by one (1) 
dram of sulphate of magnesia. Then he begins with three drops of 
liquor potassa arsenitis, to be taken in a dram of water after each meal.' 

If the patient is delicate and complains of the coldness of the ex¬ 
tremities during the attacks, and frequent chilliness during the inter¬ 


vals, he substitutes the following: 

Liq. arsenicalis hydrochloric...half a dram. • 

Quinise disulphat. . . . ..twelve grai 

Liq. ferri perchloridi.two. drams. 

Aquas..six drams. 


One tablespoonful in a wineglassful of water, twice a day after 
meals. 

Whichever one of these is given, it is to be interrupted once in three 
weeks, and the first prescription given. 

When the attack begins he places the patient in a chair, with the 
head elevated, the feet in a hot mustard bath, the hands in warm water, 
and a bag of ice on the head, if it can be borne, and gives the following 
prescription: 

Potassii bromid.. six drams. 

Ammon, bromid.. two drams. 

Potassii iodide.six grains. 

Infus. calumba..three oz. 

One dessert-spoonful in an ounce of water. 

This treatment persevered in three or six months, will cure nearly 
every case. 

Hysteria, says the eminent professor, Dr. Austin Flint, “ is a term 
used to denote an abnormal condition of the nervous system and the 
mind, which as a morbid element enters largely into a great variety 
of affections. Hysteria involves a morbid susceptibility to emotions, 
and a defective power of the will to restrain their manifestations, 
whether in male or female, weeping or laughing irrepressibly on inade¬ 
quate occasions, making it very incongruous with abrupt transitions.” 
The phases of the disease are various, hence a number of prescriptions 
are given. 

Hysteria.— Bromide of ammonium, two drams; water, three oz.; 
aromatic spirit of ammonia, one fluid dram. Dissolve. Take a dessert¬ 
spoonful thrice daily. 

Compound tincture of lavender, one and a half oz.; spirits of cara¬ 
way, two oz.; tincture of opium, one dram ; sulphuric ether, four drams ; 
water, four and a half oz. Mix, arid take a tablespoonful every hour. 










744 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


Valerianate of zinc, twelve grains ; tincture of valerian, four drams; 
simple syrup, one oz.; spring water, four oz. Take one tablespoonful. 

Extract hyoscy auras, forty grains; valerianate of zinc, forty grains ; 
subnitrate of bismuth, thirty-five grains. Make forty pills. Take one 
three .times a day. 

Valerianate of ammonia, one dram; syrup of tolu, one oz. Mix, and 
take a teaspoonful every four hours. 

Musk, sixty grains; sulphuric ether, one and a half drams; tinc¬ 
ture of opium, one and a half drams; cinnamon water, three oz. ; 
simple syrup, one oz. Take a tablespoonful three times a day. 

Tincture of castor, one and a half oz.; tincture of assafetida, one and 
a half oz.; camphor-water, one oz. ; aromatic spirit of ammonia, four 
drams ; syrup of gum-arabic, one and a half oz. Take a tablespoonful as 
circumstances require. 

Tincture of castor, one and a half oz.; sulphate of morphia, four 
grains; tincture of valerian, one and a half oz.; syrup of gum-arabic, 
one oz. Take a dessert-spoonful every two hours. 

Tincture of valerian, one oz.; carbonate of magnesia, two drams; 
tincture of opium, one dram ; peppermint water, three and a half oz.; 
oil- of anise, forty drops. Take a teaspoonful every hour. 

Assafetida, one dram. Divide into eighteen pills. Take one every 
two hours. 

Twenty or thirty drops of spirits of turpentine every hour or two has 
a charming, good effect in some cases of this sort. 

Assafetida, one and a half drams; sulphate of morphia, five grains; 
castile soap, forty grains. Make forty pills. Take one or two at a time. 

Assafetida, sixty grains ; sulphate of morphia, three grains ; powdered 
camphor, forty grains. Make thirty pills. Take one three times a day. 

Musk, sixty grains; assafetida, one and a half drams ; powdered 
camphor, thirty grains ; extract of gentian, a sufficient quantity. Make 
thirty pills. Take one three times a day. 

Hemorrhages.— From the nose. Lie down, and place cloths dipped 
in ice-water, or vinegar and water, over the forehead and sides of the 
nose. 

Powdered ipecac, twenty grains ; penny-royal water, four oz. Take a 
a tablespoonful every fifteen minutes, until vomiting. 

Blow into the nostrils, through a quill, some powdered gum-arabic, or 
the dust of tea from a canister ; or, 

Ice-water to the genitals; or stand up and raise the arm above the 
head, on the side of the bleeding, until the blood ceases to flow. 

Gallic acid, sixty grains; mucilage of gum-arabic, two oz.; syrup of 
orange-peel, two and a half oz.; water, three and a half oz. Take one 
tablespoon four times daily. 

Internal bleedings of all kinds are frequently relieved by taking, two 
or more grains of ipecac every ten • minutes until nausea is excited. 
Spitting blood has been relieved at once by taking ten grains of ipecac, 
in the form of pills. 

Powdered opium, ten grains'; powdered camphor, three grains; white 
soap, twenty grains; acetate of lead, one dram ; powdered ipecac, fifteen 
grains. Make thirty pills. Take one for a dose^ and repeat according 
to circumstances. 


ALLOPATHIC PRESCRIPTIONS. 


745 


Sugar of lead, thirty grains; digitalis, or foxglove, twenty grains; 
powdered opium, five grains; conserve of roses, forty grains. Make 
twenty pills. Take one four times a day. 

Sugar of lead, sixty grains; tincture of opium, two drams; vinegar, 
five drams; water, three oz. Take a teaspoonful, repeating as required, 
every two hours, or oftener. 

Acetate of lead, sixty grains; tincture of opium, one and a half 
drams; cinnamon, two oz.; water, four oz. Take a teaspoonful four 
times a day. 

Tannic acid, sixty grains; extract of gentian, forty grains. Make 
twenty pills. Take one every three hours. 

. Tannic acid, sixty grains; extract opium, ten grains; conserve of 
roses, thirty-five grains. Make thirty pills. Take one four times a day 
for uterine hemorrhage. 

In extreme cases give the following: 

Two grains of sugar of lead, three tablespoons of water; vinegar, half 
a dram; five drops of black-drop ; one teaspoonful of syrup. Take 
all this at once, and repeat three or four times in twenty-four hours. 

Gallic acid, two drams; powdered gum-arabic, two drams; syrup of 
tolu, two ounces; water, two and a half ounces. Take a tablespoon 
thrice daily. 

Nose-bleed in advanced life indicates apoplexy ; best prevented by a 
seton in the neck, or fruit diet, and have the bowels act very freely 
every day. 

Decoction of bearberry, four ounces; tannic acid, sixty grains ; tinc¬ 
ture of opium, two drams; syrup of gum-arabic, two and a half oz. Take 
a teaspoonful four times a day. 

Intermittent Fever.— Any case can be cured with a pound of 
Epsom salts, then a liver pill, next when it begins to act, take two 
grains of quinine in two tablespoons of water every two hours except 
during the six hours including midnight; stubborn cases may require 
larger doses of both medicines ; the liver pill not to be taken oftener 
than twice a week. 

'Quinine, thirty grains; powdered pepsin, twenty grains; one grain of 
strychnine. . Make ten pills, and take one thrice a day. 

Quinine half a dram; one oz. of muriated tincture of iron ; two drams 
of a solution of strychnine, and two of water. One teaspoon every three 
hours during the absence of fever. 

A teaspoonful of liquid hartshorn in water, just before a chill, 
sometimes* arrests it; good also in delirium tremens and to promote 
sleep. 

Impotence. —One-twelfth of a grain of strychnine taken in the form 
of a pill three times a day, the bowels being kept free, the body clean 
with a cold hip-bath twice a day. 

Itcii.— Iodide of potassium, one oz. ; glycerine, three oz. Is a good 
wash in itch ; or, twenty grains of cyanide of potash in seven oz. of water. 

Iodide of potassium, half an ounce; iodide of sulphur, a dram; 
glycerine and water, each two fluid .oz.; oil of bitter almonds, four 
drops. 

Petroleum and alcohol, each one oz.; balsam of Peru, one dram ; oil 
of rosemary and oil of lavender, each twenty drops. Use as a wash. 


746 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR 


Aromatic, or even common vinegar rubbed in with a sponge twice 
a day, with a daily warm bath, or smear the parts with equal parts of 
liquid storax and sweet oil. 

Army Itch. —Iodide of sulphur, twenty-five grains; lard, one oz. 

Itching of the Skin in Prurigo Senilis. —Oil of juniper and alco¬ 
hol, each an oz.; water, four oz. Use as a wash. 

Obstinate Itching. —Muriatic acid, twenty drops; water, five oz. 
Employ as a lotion. 

Sulphur, one hundred grains; carbonate of potassa, one dram; lard, 
one oz. Use as an ointment; or, rub common soap into the skin until 
it tingles severely, then wash off with warm water every other day. 
The most troublesome itchings of the private parts are relieved at once 
by dissolving twenty-five grains of the cyanide of potash in half a pint 
of water, or two grains of corrosive sublimate in six ounces of water, with 
regular bowels, and “ special fruit diet,” either jto be used as a wash 
twice a day. 

Prof. Gunning S. Bedford, in cases of final cessation of menses, ad¬ 
vised a vegetable and fruit diet; to have the bowels act every day ; 
used as a w ash twice a day a teaspoonful of powdered alum in half a 
pint of water, or a powder of twenty grains of camphor, and two drams 
of starch, and powder the parts well twice a day. At other times v r asli 
the parts with twenty grains of the nitrate of silver and tv r o oz. of 
water; the author recommends in addition a cold hip-bath, night and 
morning, and a strict fruit diet. This itching is sometimes fearful, 
causing the patient to scratch the parts to bleeding; sometimes they are 
compelled to step into an alley way and scratch ; free bowels, fruit diet, 
and hip-baths, or cold-water vaginal injections will cure. 

Influenza, or the “ La Grippe ” of the French, is best treated by 
being kept warm; use active purging with salts or oil in vigorous 
patients; in the old or feeble it is better to “ take sweats.” 

Liquor of the acetate of ammonia, tw r o oz. ; wine of antimony, four 
drams ; paregoric, four and a half drams; syrup of tolu, one oz. Take 
a teaspoonful thrice daily. 

Liquor of the acetate of ammonia, two oz.; camphor mixture, four 
oz.; wine of ipecac, four drams; syrup of tolu, two oz. Take one tea¬ 
spoonful every three hours. 

A specific for influenza, if taken early, a powder made of six grains 
of quinine and ten grains of compound powder of opium and ipecac ; 
that is, Dover’s powders. Take all at once. 

Lice. —Bichloride of mercury, a scruple; water, five oz. Use as a 
wash; or, 

Seeds of cocculus indicus, eighty grains ; prepared lard, an oz. Bruise 
the seeds well in a mortar, and mix with the lard. 

To Destroy Lice, or Relieve Pruritus. —Carbolic acid, one or two 
drams ; glycerine, an oz.; water, enough to make eight oz. Mix. Use 
as a lotion; or, 

Bruise one oz. of seed of cocculus indicus, add a pint of alcohol, and 
wash the head well; it will kill every louse and nit in a minute. 

Leucorriicea, or Whites. —Alum, two drams; water, eight oz. 
Dissolve.. Inject into the vagina twice daily, first washing out the parts 
well with cold water. 


ALLOPATHIC PRESCRIPTIONS. 


747 


This is often such an unmanageable disease that a number of prescrip¬ 
tions are given; premising, however, that the feet must be kept warm, 
the bowels regular, and live on special fruit diet until cured, with 
plentiful syringing with cold water three times a day• such a course 
will often cure without any medicine whatever. 

Extract hyoscyamus, one dram; nitrate of silver, ten grains; pow¬ 
dered cantharides, fifteen grains; sulphate quinine, forty grains. Make 
forty pills. Take one twice a day. 

Sulphate of zinc, forty grains; extract of opium, ten grains ; aromatic 
confection, thirty grains. Make forty pills. Take one three times a 
day. 

Leucorrhoea is a discharge from the womb or the vagina alone; if 
from the womb it is thick, gelatinous, adheres to the fingers ; if from the 
vagina it is white, creamy and opaque, except during the menstrual flow. 

Sulphate of copper^ ten grains; extract of opium, ten grains; confec¬ 
tion of roses, thirty-five grains. Make thirty pills. Take one four 
times a day. 

Decoction of oak-bark, seven oz.; alum, thirty grains; wine of galls, 
one oz. Use as an injection twice a day. 

Compound liquor of alum, half a pint; water, half a pint. Mix, and 
use as an injection twice a day. 

Liniments. —Sweet oil,-one ounce; hartshorn, one oz. Mix. To be 
rubbed on with a piece of flannel. 

Lime-water, two oz. ; flax-seed oil, two oz. Mix. Apply in cases of 
burns. 

Spirits of turpentine, one oz.; linseed oil, one oz.; lime-water, one 
oz. Mix. Useful in cases of burns. 

Sulphuric acid, one dram; spirits of turpentine, one dram; olive oil, 
three drams. Mix the oil and turpentine first, then gradually add the 
acid. A valuable liniment for chilblains. Rub two or three times 
daily. 

Oil of marjoram, four drams ; tincture of camphor, half an oz.; Gran¬ 
ville’s lotion, three drams; chloroform, three and a half drams; 
tincture of aconite, half an oz.; tincture of Cayenne pepper, half 
an oz. ; oil of sassafras, thirty drops; compound soap liniment, one 
oz. Good in neuralgic affections. 

Spirits of hartshorn, oil origanum, gum camphor, laudanum, spirits 
of turpentine, one part each ; and soft soap, three parts. This may be 
relied on. 

The best known for sprains, bruises, flesh wounds, etc., for man or 
beast:—One pint of alcohol; one oz. of origanum oil; one oz. worm¬ 
wood oil; one oz. hemlock oil; one oz. camphor gum ; four oz. aqua 
ammonia. Add, if you have it, the liquid of one beef’s gall. Mix, and 
it is immediately ready for use. 

Tincture of arnica, one oz.; aqua ammonia, one oz.; spirits of 
camphor, four drams ; tinture of opium, four drams ; olive oil, one oz. 
Make a liniment. Excellent in the commencement of sore throat, 
rubbed on well with the hand, or a flannel cloth. 

Tincture of aconite, tincture of opium, tincture of camphor, and 
chloroform, each one ounce. 

Dr. Stokes, of Dublin, thought highly of the following: three oz. 


748 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. . ' 

spirits of turpentine, two oz. rose water; one oz. yolk of egg (yellow); 
half an oz. acetic acid ; one dram lemon oil. Or, 

Three oz. of soap liniment, and one oz. chloroform. Or, 

Camphor, five drams; chloroform, four drams ; oil of turpentine, four 
drams; tincture of opium, one oz.; oil of olives, one oz. 

Take fifteen grains of iodine and seven oz. of water. Dissolve and 
add one dram each of the oils of rosemary and lavender, two drams of 
camphor, and one oz. of the water of ammonia. 

Croton oil, * one dram; compound soap liniment, one oz. Make a 
liniment. Or, 

Croton oil, thirty drops; sulphuric ether, one oz. Mix, and apply 
externally. Apply so as to make an eruption. 

Liniment cured a fourteen years’ rheumatism: one quart alcohol, one 
quarter gill beef’s gall, one oz. of oil of origanum, one oz. gum camphor. 
All well shaken, rub in well with the hand twice or more a day; parts 
rubbed not to be wetted with water while using this. Or, 

Take the whites of two eggs, beaten to a froth; a wineglass of spirits 
of turpentine, and a wineglass of alcohol, beating it all the time. This 
liniment must be put together in the order mentioned above, or it will 
not be thoroughly incorporated. We find this very superior in all cases 
of sprains, bruises, etc. This is the famous St. John Long’s liniment; 
was to be applied with a sponge ; its good effects are proportioned to 
the vigor of the rubbing and the length of time it is followed up. It 
will often bring about marvellous good results. 

Loose Bowels.- —Tinct. of catechu, half an oz. ; laudanum, two drams; 
spirits of camphor, two drams; tinct. of myrrh, two drams; tinct. of 
Cayenne, two drams. Mix. Dose, from half to a teaspoonful. Or, 
Syrup of orange-.peel, one oz.; acetate of morphia, two grains ; tinct. 
of cinnamon, six drams ; tinct. of cardamom, two drams. Mix. Dose, 
a teaspoonful. A valuable remedy in diarrhoea. 

Bind woollen flannel tight around the abdomen, so as to be double in 
front; this supports the bowels, keeps them warm, draws the fluid to 
the surface, and so confines the intestines in a narrow space that their 
vermicular or natural motion is arrested, as it is the excess of this 
motion which is the immediate cause of the disturbance. Or, 

Keep quiet in bed, because in loose bowels, every step taken increases 
the disturbance, and nature points to rest, by taking away the disposition 
to move about, while to sit or recline is delightful. 

Rest and the flannel bandage, eating nothing but boiled rice with 
boiled milk, every six hours; better still if the rice is first parched 
brown like coffee ; this alone will cure any ordinary case, without any 
medicine whatever. 

Half an oz. of elixir vitriol in eight oz. of water. Dose, one oz. 
every two hours as long as necessary. 

Five years old, fifteen drops elixir vitriol every hour with syrup. . 
Mouth Canker. —Keep the bowels acting daily, eat thrice a day of 
nourishing food, nothing whatever between meals, and use a wash of 
half an oz. of the liquor of chlorate of soda in five ounces of water, and 
take at the same time four grains of the chlorate of potash in a little 
syrup, four times a day. Cases of several years’ standing may be cured 
in a short time thus. 


ALLOPATHIC PRESCRIPTIONS. 


749 


Keep tlie skin clear. Avoid all salt food and stimulants, including 
tea and coffee, live mainly on fruits, berries, coarse breads, cracked 
wheat, sago, tapioca, boiled rice, and the like. 

Chlorate of potassa, half an oz.; water, half a pint. Take a table¬ 
spoonful every three hours. 

Labarraque’s solution of chlorinated soda, one dram; good glyce¬ 
rine, and water, each two oz. 

Mouth Wash. —Creasote, three drops; good glycerine, and water, 
each half an oz. 

Alum one dram, dissolve in six oz. of water, add two oz. of brandy, 
for salivated sore mouth. 

Neuiialgias are almost without number. If one remedy fails, use 
another; but to cure any of them permanently the bowels must be made 
to act every day, the feet must be kept warm, the special fruit diet kept 
up, and three hours spent in out-door activities every day ; these alone 
will cure in many cases; when they fail, use some one of the following: 

Extract of hyoscyamus, half a dram; sulphate of morphia, three 
grains; strychnine, two grains; powdered Cayenne pepper, thirty-five 
grains; sulphate of zinc, fifteen grains. Make thirty pills. Take one 
every five hours. 

Valerianate of ammonia, one teaspoonful twice a day, increased to 
three, in water. 

Extract hyoscyamus, half a dram ; valerianate of iron, one dram. 
Make thirty pills. Take one three times a day. 

Extract hyoscyamus, half a dram; valerianate of zinc, one scruple. 
Make thirty pills. Take one three times a day. Or, 

Half a dram of sal ammoniac in an oz. of camphor water, to be 
taken a teaspoonful at a dose, and the dose repeated several times, at in¬ 
tervals of five minutes if the pain be not relieved at once. An admirable 
California remedy. 

Extract of aconite, ten grains; arsenic, one grain; sulphate of qui¬ 
nine, thirty grains. Make twenty pills. Take one every four hours. 

Extract of belladonna, ten grains; powdered iron, thirty grains; 
quinine, twenty grains. Make twenty pills. Take four or five every 
day. 

iSubcarbonate of soda, one and a half drams ; water, one pint; dilute 
sulphuric acid, one dram; aromatic confection, four drams; peppermint 
water, half an oz. Mix. Two tablespoonfuls twice a day. 

Chloroform and olive oil, four oz. each, prevented from evapo¬ 
rating by oiled silk, acts as a strong rubefacient, burning like mustard. 

Veratria, ten to twenty grains; pure lard, one oz. Mix. Applied to 
the part. 

Lime-water, eight oz.; calcined magnesia, thirty grains ; aromatic 
spirit of ammonia, three drams; compound tincture of cardamom, one 
oz. Take two tablespoonfuls twice a day, or oftener. 

Veratrum, five grains; lard, one dram. Make into ointment. 

Veratrum, twenty grains; ointment of rose-water, one oz. Mix and 
form ointment. Hub a small portion behind the ear night and morning, 
in nervous deafness. 

Saturated tincture of aconite root rubbed gently into the skin. 

Neuralgias of the severest kind in the head or other parts of the body 


750 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


are often delightfully relieved by a mixture of equal parts of tincture of 
aconite' root and chloroform; dip into it a piece of woollen cloth, spread 
it over the spot, and then cover with a larger cloth. 

Prof. Gross, of Philadelphia, uses forty grains of quinine, one grain of 
morphia, one grain each of strychnine and arsenious acid, with ten 
grains of extract of aconite, made into twenty-one pills. Take one four 
times a day. 

Extract hyoscyamus, fifteen grains; extract stramonium, four grains; 
extract hops, one and a half drams; sulphate morphia, one and a half 
grains. Make thirty pills. Take one every half-hour until pain is re¬ 
lieved. 

« 

Sulphate quinine, forty grains; sulphate morphia, ten grains. Make 
twenty pills. Take one when needed. 

Strychnine, twelve grains; acetic acid, sixty drops; alcohol, one and a 
half oz.; water, ten oz. Take ten drops, slowly increasing to thirty, three 
times a day. 

Solution of strychnine, three oz.; Magendie’s solution of morphia, one 
and a half drams; tincture of gentian, two oz.; syrup of gum-arabic, 
two oz. Take a teaspoonful three times a day; or, 

Bicarbonate of potassa, one dram; hydrocyanic acid, twenty-four drops; 
solution of sulphate of morphia, twenty-four drops; camphor water, four 
oz. Take two teaspoonfuls, as circumstances require. 

Valerianate of ammonia, one dram; syrup of tolu, one oz. Take a 
teaspoonful every four hours. 

Ozgena* —Tannic acid, one oz.; glycerine, four oz. Mix, and dissolve 
by a gentle heat. Inject or. snuffle up twice a day to remove ill-smelling 
discharges from the nose ; or, 

One oz. of carbolic acid (melted) ; nine oz. of Boner’s or Price’s gly¬ 
cerine. Mix over a water-bath at 120° Falir., stirring until incorporated. 
Use as injection, in ozcena, etc., diluted with ten or twenty times its bulk 
of water; but to cure this disagreeable affection the general health must 
be built up, which article see. 

Otorrhcea, or offensive discharges from the ear, are corrected and cured 
by letting fall into it daily, or carefully injecting into it, a mixture of 
one dram of carbolic acid, once oz. of glycerine, and five oz. of water, 
well mixed. 

Ointments. —Iodide of potassium, one dram; proto-iodide of mercury, 
twelve grains; ointment of rose-water, one oz. A counter-irritant in 
consumption, rubbed in night and morning over the chest. 

Iodine, twelve grains; iodide of potassium, one dram; fresh or pre¬ 
pared lard, one oz. Mix, and form ointment. 

Oil of tobacco, six drops ; white precipitate of mercury, twenty grains ; 
simple cerate, one oz. Mix, and form ointment. 

Extract of henbane, or hyoscyamus, one oz.; extract of belladonna, one 
oz.; extract of hemlock, or conium, one oz.; iodide of potassium, Good 
for all indurations. 

Tartar-emetic, two drams; powdered camphor, thirty grains; fresh 
lard, or prepared lard, one oz. Make an ointment. 

• In chronic bronchitis, or other deep-seated inflammations in the chest, 
first Wet the skin with strong vinegar. 

Tartar-emetic, one and a half drams; powdered ipecac, fifty grains; 



ALLOPATHIC PRESCRIPTIONS. 


751 


simple cerate, or lard, one oz. Make an ointment; or for children 
use, 

Tartar-emetic, thirty grains; Croton oil, twenty drops ; powdered ipe¬ 
cac, sixty grains; rose ointment, one oz.; red oxide of mercury, live 
grains ; simple cerate, one-lialf oz. Mix and form ointment, for sore eyes. 

Ointment or salve for wens and other tumors : equal parts of soot, 
spirits of camphor, turpentine, and soft-soap, to be well rubbed in thrice 
a day, and a plaster of it kept on the parts in the mean while. 

Pneumonia, called by various names, as lung-fever, inflammation of 
the lungs, and pneumonitis, is always a dangerous disease, and should 
be attacked more promptly. 

Wine of antimony, four drams; nitrate of potassa, or “ saltpetre,” 
two drams; liquor of the acetate of ammonia, three oz.; syrup of tolu, 
one oz.; water, three and a half oz. Take a dessert-spoonful every three 
hours. 

Powdered ipecac, sixty grains; infusion of Virginia snakeroot, or 
serpentaria, six oz.; paregoric, two drams. One teaspoonful every 
hour; or, 

Two oz. of saturated solution of tartar-emetic; sixty grains of iodide 
of potash, with half an oz. of oil of turpentine; or use the sat. tine, 
of tar.-em. alone, so as to cause an eruption ; or, 

Tartrate of antimony and potassa, two grains ; water, five oz. Take 
two teaspoonfuls every three hours. 

Sulphate of quinine, half a dram; elixir of vitriol, one dram and a 
half; oil of cloves, five drops; mucilage of gum-arabic, an oz.; water, 
to make in all four oz. Take a teaspoonful every three hours. 

Nitrate of potassa, two drams; powder of gum-arabic, or white 
sugar, two drams. Divide into ten papers. Take one every two hours. 

Calomel, and ipecacuanha powder, each eight grains ; nitrate of potassa, 
half a drain, or a dram. Mix, and divide into twelve powders. Take one 
powder every three hours. 

Acetate of-potassa, five drams and a half; sweet spirits of nitre, two 
fluid drams; water, enough to make eight oz. Dissolve. Take a table¬ 
spoonful every three hours, in debilitated cases. 

Pleuritic Effusion. —Acetate of potassa, six drams; sweet spirits 
of nitre, two fluid drams; water, enough to make half a pint. Take a 
tablespoonful every three hours, as a diuretic; or, 

Powder of squills, half a dram; powder of digitalis, fifteen grains. 
Mix, and divide into sixteen pills. Take one thrice daily. 

Compound spirit of juniper, two ounces. Take one or two teaspoon¬ 
fuls thrice daily, in water. 

Calomel, six grains ; opium, three to six grains ; tartar-emetic, a grain 
and a half. Mix, and divide into twelve powders. Take one every three 
or four hours, in water, for an acute attack of pleurisy. 

Pneumonia. —From five to ten drops of the tincture of arnica will so 
control the action of the heart in pneumonia as to lead to a cure if con¬ 
tinued every three hours for two days, bringing the pulse down to forty 
in a minute, where it sometimes remains for several days after its ad¬ 
ministration has ceased, as-is the case with veratrum viride. 

Peritonitis. —Calomel and opium, each six grains. Mix and divide 
into twelve pills. Take one every two, three, or four hours. 


752 * 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


Paralysis in some forms is greatly benefited by taking carefully, and 
making out of half a grain of strychnine sixteen pills. Take one at a 
time thrice a day, until relieved. 

Piles. —If bleeding, take an injection, twice a day, of thirty grains 
of tannic acid dissolved -in a third of a pint of ice-water ; powder of 
galls, two drams; opium, twelve grains; lard, one oz., as ointment. 

Ointment of spermaceti, glyceramyl, one oz. each; opium, twelve 
grains. Use as ointment. 

Painful Piles. —Extract of belladonna, seventy grains ; spermaceti 
ointment, an oz. Mix. Use as ointment. 

Stramonium ointment, one oz.; carbonate of lead, one dram; pow¬ 
dered opium, one and a half drams. Make an ointment, and use twice 
a day. 

Ointment of stramonium, one oz.; powdered galls, one dram; pow- 
*dered camphor, three drams. Make an ointment, and use it twice a 
day. 

Opium, one or two grains ; soap, a sufficient quantity. Mix, and 
introduce it solid into the rectum; or, 

Extract of belladonna, five grains ; soap, a sufficient quantity. Mix, 
and introduce into the bowel. 

One dram of powdered galls ; two drams of opium; two drams of 
the liquor of the acetate of lead. Make into an ointment with hog’s 
lard. 

Psoriasis. —Reddish, scaly eruptions in patches over the skin, has 
been treated with great success by the administration of large doses of 
balsam copaiba, given with a little liquor potassie, mucilage, and water. 
The physician will be able to discharge his patients sooner under this 
treatment than by any other. 

Rickets. —Take of concentrated lactic acid, one oz.; magma of 
freshly precipitated phosphate of lime, a sufficiency; orange-flower 
water, one and a half oz. ; white sugar, eleven oz. Mix the lactic 
acid with two fluid ounces of pure water, and saturate it with the 
magma; put the liquid upon a filter, and add enough water to make 
eight oz. of filtrate; pour this upon the sugar in a bottle; shake 
until dissolved, and strain. Dose, for a child, one or two drams; 
for an adult, a tablespoonful thrice daily. 

Rheumatism. —Free bowels, plenty of flannel, time, and sulphur will 
cure most cases. 

Take a teaspoonful of the tincture of guaiacum thrice daily, with free 
bowels ; mix two oz. of lime and eight oz. of sugar in a mortar, and 
pour over them a pint of boiling water. Take teaspoonful three times 
daily in milk ; or, 

Take the juice of one lemon every four hours; removes the most 
acute pains in two to five days. 

Oil of turpentine, spirit of camphor, water of ammonia, and olive 
oil, each two tablespoonfuls. Externally applied ; or, 

Nitrate of potassa, two oz. ; sulphur, an oz.; guaiacum, half an oz. ; 
add two nutmegs, and a half pint of molasses. Take two teaspoonfuls 
at night. 

CJ 

Oil of marjoram, half an oz. ; oil of turpentine, half an oz. ; tincture 
of opium, one oz.; aqua ammonia, one oz.; olive or sweet oil, one oz. 


ALLOPATHIC PRESCRIPTIONS. 


753 


Make a liniment to be rubbed on externally in rheumatism, or rheumatic 
pains about the chest and back. 

Oil of marjoram, aqua ammonia, tincture of opium, and olive or 
sweet oil, each two oz. Mix. A liniment; rub on thoroughly with the 
hand, and wet a flannel, lay it over the affected joint, and cover it with 
oiled silk. Once a celebrated patent remedy for rheumatism. 

Iodide of potassium, one to two drams; cinnamon or peppermint 
water, six oz. Take one tablespoon thrice a day for syphilitic rheuma¬ 
tism. 

Two drams of saltpetre ; powdered opium, twelve grains ; ipecac, 
twenty grains. Divide into twelve powders. Take one every night. 

Sulphate of quinine, forty grains; sulphate of morphia, ten grains. 
Make twenty pills. Take one according as circumstances require. 

Corrosive sublimate or bichloride of mercury, four grains; extract of 
opium, ten grains; extract of gentian, four grains. Make forty pills. Take 
one three times a day. 

Dissolve two grains corrosives ublimate in a few drops of water, enough 
to moisten a sufficient quantity of crumbs of bread and white sugar to 
make forty pills. Take two night and morning. 

The London Lancet contains the history of a series of cases of this 
disease treated successfully by Dr. O’Conner, one of the physicians of 
the Loyal Free Hospital, in a number of cases under his care, by the 
use of sulphur, and flannel bandaging. 

Corrosive sublimate, four grains; tincture of gentian and common 
syrup, each three oz. Take one tablespoonful thrice a day. 

Citrate of potash, two oz. ; Rochelle salts, two drams; wine of col- 
chicum, fifteen drops ; laudanum, ten drops. Take it at a draught three 
or four times a day. 

The celebrated Dr. Arbuthnot says that a diet of whey and bread is 
a cure for rheumatism.' A physician in the Philadelphia Medical 
Journal says: “I have been using cider in acute rheumatism with 
much satisfaction. I think more of it than of lemon-juice. I allow my 
patients to drink freely of it; either new or old cider answers equally 
well. From this fact I am convinced that lemon-juice operates in rheu¬ 
matism more from a peculiar vegetable principle than from its acid 
properties, which principle resides in the apple as well as in many other 
fruits. It sometimes purges ; if so, I lessen the quantity.” 

Iodide of potassium, three drams ; liquor potassa, two and a half 
drams ; tincture of colchicum, two drams; tincture of cardamom, two 
and a half oz. ; syrup of sarsaparilla, three and a half oz. Take a 
tablespoon thrice daily ; or, 

Thirty grs. each of antimonial powder and calomel, with ten grs. of 
opium. Make twenty pills, and take one four times a day. 

A mixture of half an oz. of pulverized saltpetre and half a pint of 
sweet oil is a certain cure for the inflammatory rheumatism. The mix¬ 
ture must be applied externally to the part aflect-ed, and a gentleman 
who has witnessed its application in a number of instances says it will 
infallibly effect a cure, and that right speedily. 

Or one oz. of tincture of black snakeroot; two drams of iodide of 
potash ; syrup of ipecac, one oz.; and two oz. of water. One table¬ 
spoon thrice daily. 

48 


754 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


Oil of mustard is a rubefacient, being first diluted in its own weight 
of alcohol at forty degrees. Some patients may object to its pungent 
odor; but that is temporary, while the remedy in some cases proves a 
permanent cure. Make the application at least twice a day, and protect 
the part with a soft flannel. Mustard mills are in operation in the . 
cities generally, at which the oil may be procured, it being an article 
not much in demand in the arts. Were it not for detecting it by a 
pungent odor, this oil would have become a secret remedy for rheumatic 
pains years, ago. 

Two oz. each of tincture of scpiiils and veratrum viride. Take six 
drops every three hours in water. It rapidly reduces the pulse in all 
fevers and inflammation. Two drops for children under three years. 

Scrofulous Sores. —Iodine, ten grs.; iodide of potash, one dram ; 
dissolve in syrup of rhubarb and water, each two oz. Take one tea¬ 
spoonful thrice daily. Or, 

Twelve grains of iodine ; sixty grains of iodide of potash ; liquor of 
potash, one oz. ; syrup of sarsaparilla, four oz. Take one teaspoonful 
thrice a day. 

Make an ointment of twelve grains of the proto-iodide of mercury; 
one dram of the iodide of potash ; one oz. of simple cerate. Rub into 
the skin thoroughly twice a day, where these are hardening. 

Oxide of zinc, half a dram; glycerine, five oz. Apply as an emol¬ 
lient. Shake before using it. Or, 

Six drams of iodine ; of potash iodide, one and a half oz.; water one 
pint. Take five drops in water thrice a day. 

Sleeplessness.— Epsom salts, two drams; elixir of vitriol, or aro¬ 
matic sulphuric acid, two drams; tincture of opium, two drams; water, 
two oz. Take a teaspoonful as required. An excellent remedy to pro¬ 
cure rest oi’ allay pain when opium alone disagrees. 

Powdered opium, one dram; powdered camphor, fifteen grains; white 
soap, two drams. Make sixty pills. Take one as required. 

Take eight grains of sulphate of morphia; add six tablespoons of 
water, and two tablespoons of alcohol or other spirits. Take one tea¬ 
spoonful about ten minutes before going to bed ; as four teaspoonfuls 
make a tablespoonful, there is one quarter of a grain of morphia to 
each dose. It should not be taken oftener than once in twenty-four 

V 

hours; the above quantity will last a month, if a dose is taken every 
night. 

Assafoetida, sixty grains; sulphate of morphia, four grains. Make 
sixteen pills; take one at bedtime. 

Bromide of potassium, half an oz.; peppermint or cinnamon water, or 
pure water, six oz. Dose, a dessert-spoonful. 

Styptic. —M. Pagliare, an Italian phannacien, is the discoverer of a 
liquid possessing so extraordinary a power of coagulating blood, that if 
to a large basin containing this fluid one drop of the styptic be added, 
complete solidification ensues, so that the basin may .be inverted with¬ 
out causing any blood to be lost. The practical advantages of this 
styptic are consequently very great, inasmuch as, by its timely applica¬ 
tion, the bleeding from large and dangerous wounds may be immediately 
stanched. In addition to the other valuable qualities of this liquid it 
is totally devoid of poisonous agency, and easily prepared as follows: 


ALLOPATHIC PRESCRIPTIONS. 


755 


take eight ounces of gum benzoin, one pound of alum, and ten pints of 
water; boil all together for the space of eight hours in an earthenware 
glazed vessel, frequently stirring the mass, and adding water sufficiently 
to make up the original quantity of that lost by ebullition, adding the 
water gradually, so that boiling may not be suspended. The liquid 
portion of the compound is then strained off and preserved in well- 
corked bottles. 

Spider’s web sometimes stops bleeding wounds promptly; also the 
dust from a tea box, or a steady pour of spring or ice water. 

Swellings of Joints. —Oil of sassafras, two fluid drams; water of 
ammonia, a tablespoonful; camphorated soap liniment, four oz. Rub 
in thoroughly night and morning. 

Sick Headache. —Bathing the head in cold water every morning, 
and frequently through the day in warm weather, is a preventive; also 
the free use of salt. 

An emetic of ipecac in an infusion of boneset often gives relief by its 
revulsive action upon the' nervous system, even though there may be 
nothing of moment in the stomach. 

Syphilitis. —Powder of opium and powder of ipecacuanha, each six 
grains. Mix, and divide into twelve pills. Take one every three hours. 
Or five drams of liquor of the iodide of mercury and arsenic in half a 
pint of the compound syrup of sarsaparilla. Take one teaspoonful 
thrice daily. 

For eruptions take three grains of iodide of arsenic ; twenty-five 
grains of extract of hemlock ; make thirty-two pills. Take one thrice a 
day, for lepra. 

Four drams of the compound liquor of the iodide of potash, in two 
and a half ounces of Fowler’s solution. Four drops in water thrice 
daily. 

Green iodide (protiodide) of mercury, ten grains; conserve of roses, a 
scruple. Divide into twenty pills. Take one twice daily. 

Secondary Syphilis. —Liquor of the iodide of mercury and arsenic, 
half a fluid oz. Take four drops thrice daily. Or, 

Four oz. of syrup of the iodide of manganese. Take twenty drops 
th rice daily in water, for constitutional syphilis. Or, 

Extract of gentian, fifty grains ; powdered silver, twenty-five grains ; 
podophyllin, sixteen grains. Make sixteen pills. Take one nightly. 

Corrosive sublimate or bichloride of mercury, three grains; dissolve* 
in half an oz. of alcohol, and add decoction of Peruvian bark, eight oz.; 
tincture of myrrh, four ounces; honey of roses, one and a half oz. 
Gargle frequently in ulcerated sore throat of syphilis. 

Chloride of lime, seventy grains ; powdered opium, two drams ; water, 
eight oz. ; use as lotion to sores or chancres after being cauterized. 
Apply frequently on lint. Keep it wet. 

For nodes and pains in the bones, syrup of sarsaparilla, seven oz.; 
syrup of poppy, one oz.;'iodide of potash, sixty grains. Take one 
tablespoonful thrice daily. 

Protiodide of mercury, three grains; iodide of potassium, two drams ; 
tincture of rhubarb, one and a half oz. ; compound syrup of sarsaparilla, 
two and a half oz. Take a teaspoonful thrice daily. 

Iodide of potassium, two drams; protiodide of mercury, two and a 


75G 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


half grains ; tincture of gentian, two oz.; compound syrup of sarsapa¬ 
rilla, two and a half oz. Take a teaspoonful three times a day. 

Extract of hemlock or conium, one and a half drams; protiodide of 
mercury, four grains ; iodide of potassium, three drams ; tincture car¬ 
damom, one and a half oz. ; compound syrup of sarsaparilla, five oz. 
Good for all eruptions from bad blood. Take a teaspoonful thrice daily. 

Skin-Diseases. —Creasote, eight drops; tincture of krameria, two fluid 
drams ; hydrocyanic acid, ten drops; water four oz. As a wash twice 
daily. 

Pustular Diseases of the Skin. —Wine of colchicum root, and wine 
of ipecac, each two fluid drams. Mix. Take twenty drops in water thrice 
daily. 

Chronic Diseases of the Skin. —Sulphite of soda, two oz.; gly¬ 
cerine, four oz.; water, enough to make a pint. Mix. Use as lotion. 

Obstinate Skin-Diseases. —Oil of juniper, soft soap, and alcohol, 
each an oz. Use as an ointment. 

Stomach. — For irritated condition of stomach and bowels, take from 
ten to twenty grains in soft bread or rice, at the beginning of each 
meal, or six grains of nitrate of silver, three grains of opium; make 
twenty pills. Take one at each meal. 

Two drams of bicarbonate of potash in a gill of water. A tablespoon¬ 
ful of this to a tablespoon each of water and lemon-juice in water, 
thrice daily. 

Nitro muriatic acid, half an oz.; muriatic acid, three drams. Dose, 
three drops, thrice daily in a teacup of water; or, if there is gen¬ 
eral debility, carbonate of ammonia, one dram; mucilage of gum- 
arabic, five fluid oz.; water, two oz. ; one tablespoon hourly. 

Scarlet Fever. —Carbonate of ammonia, sixty grains; paregoric, 
two oz.; wine of ipecac, forty drops; water, six oz. Give one table¬ 
spoon in some lemonade, or vinegar and honey every three hours. 

Vomiting. —Equal parts of clear lime-water and milk. Take a table¬ 
spoonful at a time. 

For nausea and vomiting. Bicarbonate of potassa, one dram; com¬ 
pound tincture of cardamom, an oz. ; syrup of ginger, two fluid drams ; 
water, enough to make four oz. Take a dessert-spoonful. 

Powdered cloves, ginger, and cinnamon, each two teaspoonfuls; 
wheat flour, a tablespoonful; brandy, enough to make a paste to spread 
upon flannel, and apply to the abdomen. 

Bicarbonate of soda, four scruples ; aromatic spirit of ammonia, one 
dram; solution of morphia, two drams; water, enough to make four 
oz. Take two teaspoonfuls. 

Creasote, ten drops; bicarbonate of soda, one dram; solution of 
morphia, a dram and a half; peppermint water, enough to make four 
oz. Take two teaspoonfuls at a time. 

Vomiting is caused instantly by swallowing one dram of carbonate of 
hartshorn in half a pint of warm water. 

Calomel, two grains; half a teaspoon of white sugar, divide into eight 
powders. Take one every two hours ; or a calomel pill of five grains at 
once. 

Tonics. —Take three daily in water, at meals, six grains of phosphate 
of iron; or, 


ALL OP A TJIIO PRESCRIPTIONS. 


757 


Take one hour’s walk after each meal, for a week, and live on coarse 
bread, lean meats, and fruits and berries; or, 

Three grains of quinine in half a glass of water at each meal, when 
fever and ague is present; or, 

e Thirty grains of quinine, sixty grains of carbonate of iron, into 
sixteen pills. Take one thrice daily ; or, 

One dram of elixir vitriol; compound tincture of Peruvian bark, 
three oz.; syrup of juniper, two oz. One teaspoonful thrice a day for 
protracted fever and ague. 

Seventy grains of quinine ; two grains of arnica ; conserve of roses, 
forty grains. Make tliirty-two pills. Take one night and morning. 

Syrup of the iodide of iron, one oz. ; tincture of black snakeroot, half 
an oz. ; tincture of aconite root, three drams. Take twenty-live drops 
three times a day. 

Sulphate of iron, two drams; iodide of potassium, one and a half 
drams ; tincture of colomba, one and a half oz.; syrup of ginger, three oz. 
Take a teaspoonful thrice daily. 

Fowler’s solution of arsenic, one and a half drams ; tincture of Peru¬ 
vian bark, half an oz. ; syrup of orange-peel, one oz. Take a tea¬ 
spoonful three times a day for obstinate agues. 

Iodide of manganese, two drams; tincture of cardamom, one oz. ; syrup 
of sarsaparilla, six oz. Mix, and take a teaspoonful three times a day. 
Specially useful in glandular enlargements. 

Carbonate of manganese, one dram ; carbonate of iron, two drams ; 
iodide of potassium, two drams ; compound tincture of gentian, two and 
a half oz. ; compound syrup of sarsaparilla, three and a half oz. A tea¬ 
spoonful thrice daily. 

Ulcers or Sores. —Chloride of lime, one dram ; powdered opium, 
one and a half drams ; water, six oz. Use as lotion applied on lint, keep¬ 
ing the lint moist with the lotion. Useful in old and indolent ulcers of 
the leg and other parts of the body; also applied in same way to chan¬ 
cres after being cauterized. 

Sixteen grains of blue vitriol in a pint of water is the best application 
known for all ulcers, or old sores, whether scrofulous or otherwise, and 
will cure all curable cases, making two applications daily as a wash ; but 
two things must be done at the same time, the bowels must be made to 
act once in every twenty-four hours, and the patient must eat plain 
, nourishing food three times a day, and nothing between meals, nor any 
fluid at any meal. In stubborn cases the amount of blue vitriol may be 
doubled; in all cases it should be made strong enough to cause consider¬ 
able smarting when applied. It is very efficient in healing up ulcera¬ 
tions from salivation. The author makes this known from personal 
observation of its efficiency in the past thirty years. 

Washes. —Chlorate of potash, a quarter of an oz.; muriatic acid, forty 
drops ; water, one-half pint to one pint. Mix. An excellent wash for 
chronic fetid ulcers, soon converting a foul ulcer to a healthy-looking one. 
A good gargle. 

Powdered golden seal, one dram ; powdered cranesbill, one dram; pow¬ 
dered witch-hazel, bark, one dram. Mix and pour upon these a pint of 
boiling water. Let it stand till cold. Used to swab an ulcerated sore 
throat in scarlet fever, and for other purposes. 


758 


BALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


Another : Pulv. Cayenne, one dram; salt, one dram; boiling water, 
one gill. Mix and let stand fifteen minutes. Then add one gill of vine* 
gar. Let it stand one hour, and strain. Put a teaspoonful in a child’s 
mouth once an hour in malignant scarlet fever. 

Creasote, twenty-four drops; tincture of myrrh, four drams ; compound 
tincture of lavender, four drams ; simple syrup, one and a half oz.; water, 
three and a half oz. Mix, and use frequently as a gargle for inflamma¬ 
tory sore throat; or, 

Creasote, twenty drops; tincture of Cayenne pepper, two drams; tinc¬ 
ture of myrrh, half an oz. ; compound tincture of lavender, four drams ; 
simple syrup and water, one oz. each; or, 

Lunar caustic, or nitrate of silver, forty grains; rose-water, four oz. 
Mix, and dissolve the caustic in the rose water, and use as a gargle 
as often as it seems to do good; or, 

Nitrate of potassa, two drams; honey of roses, one oz.; water, five oz.; or, 

Decoction of white-oak bark, seven oz.; alum, thirty grains; wine 
of galls, one oz. 

Tincture of Cayenne pepper, one dram ; alum, one dram ; honey, one 
oz.; water, four oz. 

For the eye : One grain of corrosive sublimate ; two drams of wine of 
opium; and water, half a pint. Bathe the closed lids with this several 
times a day. Or, 

A teaspoonful of vinegar and half a pint of water. Make several 
folds of muslin ; dip in this, and let them lay on the closed eyes loosely, 
and if sore, let fall three drops into each eye, night and morning. 

Laryngitis : Gargle often with a dram of guaiacum in a pint of tepid 
water, and take twenty grains internally thrice a day. 

A good gargle is made of two parts water and six of glycerine. 

If there are ulcers in the mouth, apply a powder of equal parts of 
chalk and gum-arabic ; or, 

Twenty grains of sulphate of zinc in an oz. of water, in severe cases ; 
do not swallow any of the mixture. 

Biborate of soda, two drams; powdered myrrh, one dram; water, six 
oz. Use as a mouth-wash. 

Wine of ipecacuanha, half an oz. Take thirty drops every two or 
three hours, in a tablespoonful of water, for inflamed tonsils. 

Tannin, thirty grains; water, an oz. Applied with a hair-pencil to 
swollen tonsils. 

One of the best gargles for common sore throat, and to loosen phlegm, 
is, one dram of tincture of capsicum to a pint of water, adding a level 
tablespoon each of salt and alum. 

For ulcerated sore throat, as a gargle, half an oz. of liquor of chloride 
of lime in six oz. of water; or, 

Six oz. of decoction of pearl-barley ; as much tincture of myrrh ; tinc¬ 
ture of opium, two drams; honey of roses, one oz. Gargle. Or, 

Six oz. of tincture of myrrh and one oz. of honey. 

Syphilitic Gargle.— Corrosive sublimate, three grains ; dissolve in 
half an oz. of alcohol, and add decoction of Peruvian bark, six oz.; tinc¬ 
ture of myrrh, four oz.; honey of roses, one oz. 

Chloroform liniment, tincture of camphor, and laudanum and sweet 
oil, each half an oz. Excellent for all pains. 

Breaking out on the.skin, with intolerable itching, is cured-by wrap- 


ALLOPATHIC PRESCRIPTIONS. 


750 


ping the parts with cloths clipped in a solution of one dram of carbonate 
of potash in a pint of water; keep the cloths wet with it. 

Tape-Worms result from eating meats, especially pork not well cooked. 
A full-grown worm has over one thousand joints ; the most certain cure 
is to take mashed pumpkin-seeds before breakfast, not eating anything 
for six hours after; or, 

Five drams of pink-root in a pint of hot water. Take one tablespoonful 
every three hours, having preceded it with a liver pill the night before, 
followed next morning with an oz. of castor-oil every hour until the 
bowels act, then take the pumpkin-seed ; or, 

Four drams each of pink-root and senna; sixty grains of anise in a 
pint of hot water. Take two tablespoonfuls every three hours, begin¬ 
ning on rising, and not eating anything sooner than noon. 

Three grains of santonine twice a day, with a tablespoonful of castor 
oil night and morning, or twelve drops of worm-seed oil in an oz. of 
molasses. Take one teaspoonful on rising, on retiring, and at noon. 

Powdered male fern is considered a superior remedy; two oz. in two oz. 
of molasses. Take one teaspoonful night and morning on an empty stomach. 

Kousso is also an excellent remedy, taken on an empty stomach ; 
take half an oz. in half a pint of water. Take half of this on rising in 
the morning ; the other half in an hour ; two hours after take two oz. 
castor-oil ; an hour later take the first meal of the day. 

Pin-worms, or ascarides, are sometimes insufferably troublesome ; for 
children, an injection of three oz. of castor-oil every few days is ef¬ 
ficient ; or an injection of half a grain of iodide of potash; one grain of 
biniodide of mercury in two pints water; repeat this daily for four 
days; omit two weeks and begin again ; one-quarter for children. 

Take night and morning, on an empty stomach, three teaspoonfuls 
of the fluid extract of spigelia and senna, or two drams of quassia in a 
pint of boiling water; cool and inject. 

Santonine, fifteen grains ; cocoa butter, a sufficient quantity to make 
four suppositories. Mix and divide. Introduce one into the bowel at 
bedtime. Infallible for pin-worms. 

Santonine, half a dram; divide into twelve pills. Take one thrice 
daily ; half for a child. 

Leaves of senna, and root of spigelia, each half an ounce; boiling 
water, a pint and a quarter; infuse, covered for two hours. Take a 
wineglassful morning and night. 

Wasting Diseases. —Cod-liver oil, syrup of ginger, and mucilage of 
gum-arabic, each two oz.; oil of cloves, eight dro])S. Mix. Take a 
tablespoonful thrice daily ; or, 

Cod-liver oil and glycerine, each two oz.; gum-arabic, two drams; oil 
of bitter almonds, three drops ; oil of cloves, ten drops. Take a table¬ 
spoonful thrice daily. 

Take of citrate of ammonia, iron, and quinine, ten grains; cod-liver 
oil and glycerine, each two oz. Mix. Dose, a tablespoonful. 

Some of those six hundred formulae are original, others have been taken from the privato and pub¬ 
lished memoranda of the most eminent medical men of the century. Abernethy, Hunter, Mar¬ 
shall Hall, Liston, Parrish, Jackson, Wairen, Danglison, Harishorne, Professors B. W. Dudley, John 
E-ten Cook, Barker, Flint, Post, Draper, Clark, Carnochan, and others; some of the most valuable 
are from the Essentials of the Principles and Practice of Medicine, by Hepry Ilartshorne, A.M.,M.D., 
Professor of Hygiene in the University of Pennsylvania, some of them original with himself. Henry 
C. Lea, Philadelphia, publisher a volume which ought to be in the library 01 every intelligent prac¬ 
titioner in the country. 


ALIMENTS FOR THE SICK. 


Extract of Beef. —Take one pound of rumpsteak, mince it like sau¬ 
sage meat, and mix it with one pint of cold water. Place it in a pot at 
the side of the fire to heat very slowly. It is well to let it stand two or 
three hours before it is allowed to simmer, and then let it boil very gently 
for fifteen minutes. Skim and serve ; a tablespoonful of fresh sweet 
cream to a teacupful of this beef-tea renders it more nourishing, or 
thicken with a little flour. 

Children, and even adults, will frequently take the raw meat simply 
minced when they are suffering from great debility. One teaspoonful 
of such meat should be given every four hours. If disagreeable, mix 
two parts of pounded white sugar and one part of meat. 

Essence of Beef. —Take one pound of beef free from skin and fat, 
chop it up as fine as mince meat, pound it in a mortar witli three table¬ 
spoonfuls of soft water, and let it soak for two hours. Then put it in 
a covered earthen jar with a little salt, cementing the edges of the cover 
with pudding paste, and tying a piece of cloth over the top. Place the 
jar in a pot half full of boiling water, and keep the pot on the fire four 
hours; give two teaspoonfuls frequently. Useful in great debility, 
diphtheria, typhus, exhaustion from hemorrhage, etc. 

Beef Essence—Another Mode. —Take a pound of good beef, free 
from fat, cut into small bits, and put into a porter bottle, loosely 
corked. Place the bottle in a kettle or pan of water, and keep it there 
until the water has been boiling at least an hour. As the boiling goes 
on the cork may be made a little more secure to prevent the contents of 
the bottle from escaping. The juices of the beef are thus forced from 
the fibre and are collected in the bottle, constituting the essence ; season 
to suit. It was a favorite diet with the late Dr. Parrish. 

Beef-Tea is less nutritious than essence of beef. Boil a pound of 
lean beef with a quart of water for an hour ; the resulting juice can be 
taken in much larger quantities, and with grated crackers or toasted 
bread makes a pleasant soup. 

Panada. —Take white bread, one ounce; ground cinnamon, one tea- 
sjmonful; water, one pint. Boil until well mixed; add a little sugar 
and nutmeg. Wine or butter may also be added if desirable. Or cut 
two slices of stale bread half an inch in thickness; toast them to a nice 
brown; break them up, place them in a bowl, sprinkle a little salt 
over them, add some sugar, and pour on a pint of boiling water; grate 
a little nutmeg. 

Calves’-Feet Jelly.— Boil two calves’ feet in one gallon of water 
to a quart; strain, and when cold skim off the fat and take up 
the clear jelly. Put the jelly into a saucepan with a pint of wine, half 
a pound of loaf sugar, the juice of four lemons, the white of six eggs 
beaten to a froth. Mix well. Set the saucepan upon a clear fire and 
stir the jelly till it boils. When boiled ten minutes pour it through a 
flannel bag till it runs clear.- 


ALIMENTS FOR THE SICK. 


761 


Toast-Water. —A slice of bread half an inch thick, toast it brown 
without scorching, pour over it a pint of boiling water; when cool 
strain and drink. 

Rice-Water. —Boil two ounces of rice for one hour in two quarts of 
water, add salt or sugar, and nutmeg. A good drink in diarrhoea. 

Oatmeal Gruel. —Pour a pint of boiling water on two tablespoonfuls 
of oatmeal, add half a pint of milk, and a little salt; simmer in a sauce¬ 
pan for half an hour, may add a few raisins ; strain and drink, seasoned 
with nutmeg. 

Vegetable Soup. —Put three potatoes, one onion, and a piece of 
bread into a quart of water ; boil it down to a pint. Then throw in a 
little chopped parsley and salt. Cover, remove from the fire, and 
allow it to cool. 

Bread-and-Butter Broth. —Spread a slice of bread with butter; 
sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Pour on a pint of boiling water ; 
cover, and let it cool. 

Lime-Water and Milk. —Take of clear saturated lime-water and 
fresh milk, each a wine-glassful. Mix. Take tablespoonful or less. 
This will sometimes remain upon an irritable stomach which will retain 
nothing else. 

Chicken Broth. —Clean half a chicken and remove the skin; pour 
on a quart of cold water, and salt to taste ; add a tablespoonful of rice, 
and boil slowly for three hours ; skim well, and add a little salt. 

Complin’s Bran-Loaf for Diabetes. —Take two or three quarts of 
wheat bran, boil it in two successive waters for ten minutes, each time 
straining it through a sieve ; then wash it well with cold water (on the 
sieve), until the water runs off perfectly clear; squeeze the bran in a 
cloth as dry as you can, then spread it thinly on a dish, and place it in 
a slow oven. If put in at night, lef it remain until the morning, when, 
if perfectly dry and crisp, it will be fit for grinding. The bran thus 
prepared must be ground in a fine mill, and sifted through a wire sieve 
of sufficient fineness to require the use of a brush to pass it through : 
that which does not pass at first ought to be ground and sifted again, 
until the whole is soft and fine. 

Take of this bran-powder three troy ounces; three fresh eggs; an 
ounce and a half of butter, and rather less than half a pint of milk. Mix 
the eggs with part of the milk, and warm the butter with the other por¬ 
tion ; then stir the whole well together, adding a little nutmeg and ginger, 
or other spice. Just before putting into the oven, stir in, first, thirty-five 
grains of bicarbonate of soda, and then three drams of dilute hydro¬ 
chloric acid. Bake the loaf in a basin, well buttered, for an hour and a 
quarter. 

Extract of Raw Beef. —Cut lean beef very fine , put in cold water 
(half a pint to a pound) in a bottle. Soak it for twelve hours, shaking 
it half a dozen times during that time; strain it ofi with pressure 
through a cloth. Mutton or chicken may be used in the same way. 

Liebig’s Broth. —Chop half a pound of beef, mix it well with one 
dram of table salt, four drops (ten would be better) of muriatic acid, 
and eighteen ounces of distilled water. Macerate for an hour, and 
strain through a fine hair sieve. Dose, a teacupful. This contains the 
soluble constituents of the meat, but not all its nutritive elements. 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


fjnc) 

Liebig’s Food for Infants. —Mix together half an ounce of wheat 
flour, the. same of malt flour, seven and a quarter grains of bicarbonate 
of potassa, and an ounce of water. Add five ounces of fresh milk, and 
put the whole upon a gentle fire. When it begins to thicken, take it 
from the fire, stir it for five minutes, heat and stir again until it be¬ 
comes quite fluid; finally boil it for a short time. Filter through a 
sieve to separate the bran ; it is then ready for use. 

Panada. —Take two slices of stale bread, without crust; toast them 
brown, cut them into squares of two inches, sprinkle with salt and a 
little nutmeg. Pour on a pint of boiling water, and cool. 

Arrow-root. —Mix a tablespoonful with cold water, to make a paste. 
Boil a pint of water, stir in the arrow-root, and boil it a few minutes. 
Sweeten with white sugar. Wine may be added if necessary. A little 
orange-peel added before boiling will improve the flavor. 

Tapioca. —Cover three tablespoonfuls of tapioca with a teacupful or 
more of cold water, and soak for two or three hours, or over night. 
Put it into a pint of boiling water, and boil it until it is clear and of 
the desired consistence. Sugar, nutmeg, or wine, etc., may be added as 
required. 

Sago Jelly. —Mix four tablespoonfuls of sago, the juice and rind 
of one lemon, and a quart of water. Sweeten, and boil it, stirring con¬ 
stantly until clear ; add four tablespoonfuls of wine. 

Apple Water. —Slice two large apples, put them in a jar, pour over 
them a pint of boiling water, cover close for an hour, pour off the fluid 
and sweeten if needed. 

Apple Tea. —Boast eight fine apples, put them in a jar with two 
teaspoonfuls of sugar; pour on a quart of boiling water, let it stand 
near the fire for an hour, and take it as desired. 

Mutton Broth. —Put a pound of lean mutton in a saucepan with 
two pints of water and a little salt, let it simmer for two hours, strain 
it through a sieve, and when cold, remove all the fat, and thicken with 
arrow-root, boiled rice, or bread crumbs ; for weak stomachs, or for per¬ 
sons recovering from severe illness, this is excellent. 

Wine Whey. —Boil half a pint of milk, add a wineglass of Madeira 
or sherry wine. Separate the curd by straining through muslin or a 
sieve. Sweeten the whey to taste, and grate upon it a little nutmeg. 

Egg and Wine, or Brandy. —Beat up a raw egg, and stir in two 
tablespoonfuls of wine. Sweeten according to taste. 

Caudle. —Beat a raw egg with a wineglassful of sherry, and add to 
it half a pint of hot gruel. Flavor with orange-peel and sugar. 

Milk Punch. —Into a tumblerful of milk put two tablespoonfuls of 
brandy, whiskey, or Jamaica rum. Sweeten, and grate in nutmeg. 

Ferruginous Chocolate. —Mix sixteen ounces of chocolate with half 
an ounce of carbonate of iron. Divide the mass into sixteen cakes. 
One may be dissolved in half a pint of hot milk, to be taken night and 
morning. 


ANNOTATIONS. 


763 


ANNOTATIONS. 

There are many practical thing’s in relation to health and disease which may he 
stated in a few words or sentences, without the necessity of separate chapters ; 
a number of these are presented here. 

At least half the diseases and deaths of children under two years could be 
prevented by the attention of mothers to the following points : — 

1. Regular feeding, not an atom between times. 

2. Clean skin. 

3. Good ventilation, especially while asleep. 

4. Loose dressing, yet sufficiently warm. 

A man had an ulcer twenty years and which obstinately refused to heal. Three 
pea> sized pieces of skin were taken from his arm and stuck on in patches upon 
the granulated sore; in seven days they began to enlarge, and the entire ulcer 
was eventually covered with a healthy skin; a bald head, can be made to have 
hair grow on it in the same way as a tooth from one man’s mouth will grow in 
the socket from which another was taken. 

Tonics not only fail to do good in many cases, but cause injurious effects by 
not being preceded with medicines which remove engorgements of the liver and 
spleen. Hence never take a tonic unless preceded twenty-four hours by a liver 
pill. 

Quinine fails to remove fever and ague permanently in many cases because it 
was not preceded by a dose of calomel. 

The reader should remember that all that is new is not true necessarily, for ex¬ 
ample, the quibble that calomel does not act on the liver; but that it some way 
brings bile from the system cannot be denied, that is all that is wanted ; and as 
the bile is made in the liver, the result is the same. 

Bromide of iron has been successfully used in chronic diarrhoea, in doses of 
fifteen grains twice a day; while bromide of potash is available in rheumatism, 
ten grains thrice daily. 

The tincture of aconite is very valuable as an external application to the skin 
in bruises, hurts, and pains ; this is best done by protecting the skin of the finger 
with silk or rubber cloth, or tie a bit of sponge or soft rag to the end of a stick. 

Castor Oil. —Is one of the mildest, safest, and surest remedies known for 
moving the bowels, but it is so disagreeable to take that many have to forego its 
benefits. It may be made almost tasteless thus :—one dessert-spoonful of castor 
oil; magnesia, one dessert-spoonful; oil of peppermint, one drop. Rub together 
into a paste. Children will take it generally without opposition. 

To a pint of oil add a teaspoonful of oil of wintergreen and the same quantity 
of oil of origanum. Mix thoroughly. 

Mix one tablespoonful of castor oil thoroughly with two tablespoonfuls of spiced 
syrup of rhubarb, and give it immediately after mixture. Child’s dose, one tea¬ 
spoonful. 

Burning Fluids.—R ock oil was first given as the name of what is now called 
petroleum, as it first comes from the well, or coal oil. 

Coal oil is artificially made from cannel coal. 

Camphene is distilled turpentine. 

Burning fluid is made of two parts of turpentine and ninety-eight parts of 
alcohol. 

Phosgene is made from alcohol and turpentine, and is really impure or diluted 
alcohol, or ten parts of alcohol and one of camphene. 

Kerosene is the lightest product of coal oil. 

Tiie Wonders of Chemistry. —Aquafortis and the air we breathe are made 
of the same materials. . Linen and sugar and spirits of wine are so much alike in 
their chemical composition, that an old shirt can be converted into its weight in 
sugar, and the sugar into spirits of wine. Wine is made of two 'substances, one 
of which is the cause of almost all combination of burning, and the other will 


764 


nALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR . 


burn with more rapidity than anything in nature. The famous Peruvian bark, 
so much used to strengthen the stomach, and the poisonous principle of opium, 
are found to be of the same materials. 

Dandruff is cleaned from the scalp by rubbing into the roots of the hair, 
every morning, with the balls of the fingers, the following mixture : Stir one 
ounce of flowers of sulphur into a quart of water which has been boiled and 
cooled ; next day strain off the water and use it. 

Uses of Sweet or Olive Oil. —Compresses wet with warm oil and applied, 
speedily remove pain and swelling of wasp and hornet stings, etc. Sweet oil is 
also used to destroy or dislodge insects in the auditory (ear) passages when 
swelling prevents other methods being used to remove them. 

A gill of sweet oil drank every quarter of an hour until a pint and a half "was 
taken, expelled a tape-worm from a gentleman within twenty-four hours. 

Olive oil in large doses administered internally, and the warm oil used by 
friction upon the affected limbs, has repeatedly proved successful in cases of 
bites of venomous reptiles. 

Freckles Removed. —Powdered alum, one ounce ; lemon-juice, one ounce; 
rose-water, one pint. Shake and dissolve. Apply two or three times a day. 

The following is one of the most elegant and efficacious crashes for chapped 
hands, face, etc.: Pulverized borax, ten grains; glycerine, one dram; rose 
water, one oz. Mix. 

Efflorescence of the Face, so very annoying to young persons, females 
especially, has been treated with a solution of borax with happy results : Pul¬ 
verized borax, two drams ; orange-water and rose-water, each two oz. "Wash 
the face five or six times a day with the mixture. Sometimes its powers are 
increased by adding two to four grains of corrosive sublimate. A proper regi¬ 
men and healthy condition of the stomach, liver, and alimentary canal are essen¬ 
tials to be observed. 

Dr. Rinehart employed the following with great success in scaly tetter of 
the hand; Powdered borax, one-half dram ; water, one oz. Employed twice 
a day. 

Alum curd is readily formed by agitating a lump of alum (say the size of a 
nutmeg) in the whites of two eggs. The curdled albumen, placed between 
pieces of fine gauze, and applied to the eye laboring under inflammation, affords 
much relief and is extremely grateful to the patient. 

Chafings of Children. —Dust the parts with flour of zinc, and give inter¬ 
nally small doses of rhubarb and the best magnesia to correct the secretions. 

Elixir Vitriol in doses of ten drops, with or without half the quantity of 
laudanum, is very useful in cholerine and 'profuse diarrhoeas. 

Cough or Expectorant Remedy used much in England. —Take of 
wine of ipecac, two drams; syrup of tolu, four drams; gum-arabic, pulv., two 
drams; water, sufficient to make six oz. Dose.—For a child, one, for a grown 
person, two teaspoonfuls every four hours. 

Anti-Bilious Physic Tea. —Take pulverized senna, one oz. ; pulverized 
jalap, one-half oz. ; pulv. ginger, one-fourth oz. Mix. A heaping teaspoonful 
of this powder steeped in half a cup of boiling water and sweetened with a tea¬ 
spoonful of sugar, forms an excellent purgative draught; should be taken at 
bed-time or early in the morning. It is mild, yet active, equaled by few and 
surpassed by none as a general purge. 

If the pulse suddenly decreases largely in any disease, it is going to the brain. 

Asthma is often greatly relieved by rubbing chloroform liniment well into the 
skin over the chest, night and morning. Prompt relief has been given thus: 
Three ounces of the tincture of assafoetida, with one oz. of tincture of lobelia ; 
forty drops at a time in water. 

, Measles. —Do not cause sweating to “bring out” the measles, but drink 
freely of cold water when thirsty ; it is a great comfort. 

GtONOrrhcea and Gleet. —Permanganate of potash in one ounce of water as 
an injection, or two grains of sulphate of zinc in an ounce of water; inject six 
times a day, and keep it up for a week after the discharge ceases, causing the 
bowels to act twice daily. 

Ingrowing Toe-nail.—S crape the centre of the nail longitudinally to the 
quick, keep it well scraped in a line the eighth of an inch broad, then cover 


ANNOTATIONS. 


7G5 


some yarn with mercurial ointment and press it under the edge of the toe-nail 
as far as you can, and keep it there ; or cut a triangular portion of the centre of 
the nail, having a wide base at the free edge of the nail, and a fine point at or 
near the matrix. This will cause the nail to contract from the edge towards 
the centre, and if kept up for six months will quite alter the shape of the nail, 
making it filbert-shaped and prominent in the centre. The edges of the nail 
should be raised and separated from the soft parts into which they intrude with 
a piece of worsted coated with mercurial ointment, or Monsel’s solution of iron. 

When very sensitive granulations exist, some extract of belladonna and resin 
ointment rubbed together form a good application. 

Pulverized blood-root, sprinkled on old sores, often removes “proud flesh” 
and promotes healing. 

Physical Properties. —Garlic, as kept by druggists, is a compound spherical 
bulb, flattened at the bottom and drawn towards a point at the summit; covered 
with a white, dry, membranous envelope of several laminae, with which the small 
bulbs , five or six in number, are arranged around the stem, each having a sepa¬ 
rate coat. They have a disagreeable pungent odor, so peculiar as to be termed 
alliacious. 

The active properties reside in a volatile oil, easily separated by heat. So 
penetrating is this oil and odor of garlic, that if a poultice even be applied to the 
soles of the feet, or taken internally, the odor will be exhaled from the lungs 
and the taste will be perceptible. The flesh of fowls, their eggs, as well as milk 
and butter, are liable to be impregnated by it. 

Medical Properties and Uses. —The use of garlic, both as a medicine and 
condiment, can be traced up to the highest antiquity. Moderately employed as 
a condiment it is beneficial in enfeebled digestion and flatulence. 

A syrup of garlic is used with decided benefit in chronic catarrh and other pec¬ 
toral affections, especially of children, as well as in the nervous and spasmodic 
coughs to which they are liable. A few drops of the juice has been used to 
check nervous vomiting, and to relieve earache, applied warm. 

The expressed juice is an ancient remedy for deafness. Garlic, rubbed to a 
pulp with as much sugar as can be incorporated with it, is readily taken by 
young children, and is frequently efficacious as a vermifuge. Dioscorides ad¬ 
vised garlic as a remedy for tape-icorm, venomous bites, coughs, etc. ; and Celsus 
employed it to prevent the paroxysms of ague. One of the oldest uses was to 
apply it to the spine of young children affected with whooping-cough. The ex¬ 
ternal use of garlic is more extensive, and perhaps more important than its 
internal. Bruised and applied to the feet, it relieves, by revulsive action, dis¬ 
orders of the head; and in febrile disorders of children it quiets restlessness 
and promotes sleep. 

Wives are many times worked to death literally, brought to such a state of 
exhaustion from excessive family care and household labor, that there is no capa¬ 
bility of resisting the onsets of disease, and being attacked, there is no power of 
recuperation, and death follows. But a great deal of hard work may be avoided 
by a little thought and planning sometimes. In the manner of washing clothing, 
for example, better than the old plan of half a century ago, better than any 
washing-machine of the present day, is the simple device of dissolving two pounds 
of soap in three gallons of water as hot as the hands can bear, to this add one 
tablespoon of turpentine and three of aqua ammonia, the mixture to be well 
stirred. Linens are steeped in this preparation two or three hours, care being 
taken to keep the boiler covered as closely as possible. The cloths are after¬ 
wards simply washed out and rinsed in the usual way. The preparation may be 
used the second time by the addition of half as much turpentine and ammonia. 
The process saves a great amount of time, labor, and fuel. The fabrics do not 
suffer, there is no necessity for rubbing on the washboard, while the cleanli¬ 
ness and color are perfect. Ammonia and turpentine possess strong detersive 
qualities, without injurious effect. The former evaporates at once after re¬ 
moval, and the smell of the latter, if too much has not been used, disappears 
during the process of drying. If the clothes are then submitted to a wringer, 
not only are the injurious effects of soda and potash avoided, but three-fourths 
of the hard work is avoided. 

* Dr. Boyd cures inflammatory rheumatism in from three to seven days, by pro- 


766 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


ducing free vomiting 1 with tartar-emetic, then give five drops each of laudanum 
and tincture of colchicum every three hours. In addition take every hour a tea- 
spooufui of a mixture of four ounces of potash dissolved in half a pint of water, 
eating nothing whatever until all pain ceases' then take two tablespoons of milk 
or an oyster thrice a day, gradually increasing the amount daily. 

Incontinence of urine is sometimes a troublesome symptom in old people. 
Take two drops of tincture of iodine thrice a day; a girl of twelve was cured of 
a two years’ habit in two days, thus : Fifteen grains of hydrate of chloral every 
night, and to eat or drink nothing from G P.M. to 7 A.M. ; the first night she did 
not get up at ah, when before she had to get up four or five times ; after the third 
day dim ini sh two grains every night to nothing. 

Croup, hoarseness, and loss of voice are promptly relieved sometimes by inhal¬ 
ing pure glycerine, fifteen minutes at a time, at every half hour’s interval; it 
increases the secretion, that is, unloads the congestion of the parts. Inhale 
through an atomizer. 

Fever and ague are cured in the Australian Hospital for Soldiers thus : Half an 
oz. of aloes; camphor, four scruples; orange-peel and elecampane root, each eight 
oz. ; bruise, and let it stand in ten pints of alcohol or whiskey for eight days; 
then press it out, adding twelve oz. of dilute sulphuric acid ; six oz. of sulphate 
of quinine ; tincture of opium, one and a half oz. Give two drams three hours 
before the expected chill, eating but little. On the seventh, fourteenth, and eigh¬ 
teenth day after the last attack the same dose is given, and seldom fails. It is 
better to begin with an injection or a castor-oil purgative. 

The only safe cans for preserving fruits, berries, or vegetables are glass jars ; all 
others are liable to fatal poison. 

Position of Head in Sleeping. —The pillow should be only thick enough to 
allow the head to be on a line with the shoulder when lying on the side, that is, 
to be a very little above a horizontal line, for then it is easier for the heart to 
throw the blood to the head through the arteries, while there would be a little 
incline to favor the descent through the veins. 

There is no advantage in sleeping in a room where water freezes, because the 
deadly carbonic acid settles towards the floor, and is so breathed by the sleeper. 
The chamber should not be lower than forty, and the fire-place should be open 
all the time. The sunniest room in the house should be the sleeping-room ; the 
sun should shine in every family-room all day. 

A room should not be repapered until the old paper has been removed. 

To keep milk sw.eet several days put a teaspoonful of fine salt or horse-radish 
in a gallon pan ; or it may be kept fresh for a year thus:—Procure bottles which 
must be perfectly clean, sweet, and dry; draw the milk from the cow into the 
bottles, and as they are filled, immediately cork them well, and fasten the cork 
with pack-thread or wire. Then spread a little straw in the bottom of a boiler, 
on which place the bottles with straw between them, until the boiler contains a 
sufficient quantity. Fill it up with cold water, and as soon as it begins to boil 
draw the fire and let the whole gradually cool. "When quite cold, take out the 
bottles and pack them in sawdust in hampers, and stow them away in the coolest 
part of the house. 

The best beverage in the world is cold water, but sometimes a different kind is 
needed, and is made thus :—Take of dilute sulphuric acid, concentrated infusion 
of orange-peel, each twelve drams; syrup of orange-peel, five fluid oz. This 
quantity is added to two imperial gallons of water. A large wineglassful is taken 
for a draught, mixed with more or less water, according to taste. All may 
drink this with pleasure. It is being consumed in large quantities daily, and 
I am convinced it will be the means of warding off a great deal of sickness. 

A cooling wash for hands and face in fever is made thus :—One tablespoonful 
each of cologne, vinegar, and water; apply with a linen rag. 

Ckoup is sometimes instantly relieved by giving a teaspoonful of powdered 
alum iyi a little syrup, molasses, or oil; it vomits speedily. 

Sore "throat is often relieved by gargling every two hours with a teaspoonful 
of chlorate of potash dissolved in a glass of water. 

Freckles are constitutional, always present, for which there is no remedy; or 
they are accidental, appearing only in summer in persons who have a very 
delicate skin. Into half a pint of milk squeeze the juice of a lemon, add a 


ANNOTATIONS. 767 

tablespoonful of brandy, boil, skim, add a tablespoonful of alum; apply to the 
face night and morning. 

Or, into a half pint of sour milk scrape half as much horse-radish, next day 
strain, and apply morning, noon, and night. 

Or, put a teaspoonful each of powdered borax and sugar into the juice of one 
lemon; put it into a glass bottle and apply twice a day. 

Pimples on the Face. To four tablespoonfuls of water add two grains of cor¬ 
rosive sublimate and apply night and morning. 

Boxing the ears of children is a dangerous and inhuman punishment; the drum 
of the ear, of paper-like thinness, is.often ruptured by a single slap on the side of 
the face, causing an incurable and life-long deafness. All strokes on the head of 
children with an angry hand are brutal and criminal. A school-teacher once 
made a motion to hit a young child on the head with a closed penknife ; the 
blade flew out, and striking the skull at one of its joinings, the brain was pene¬ 
trated, resulting in instant death. A generous, humane, and wise parent should 
allow a night to intervene between the commission of a fault on the part of a 
child and any decided punishment. The veriest thief is allowed time lest the 
law should be vindictive and wrathful. And shall a man or woman punish 
an unresisting child with angry inconsideration, with unreasoning wrath in the 
heart ? It is monstrous. 

Thermometers are now coming into use for determining the grade of fevers, 
instead of the more uncertain pulse. In health there is a heat in the armpits of 
ninety-eight degrees Fahrenheit, winter and summer, day and night. In fevers it 
goes up to a hundred and six or eight, or more. 

Softening of the brain is becoming a more common disease than formerly ; as it is 
utterly incurable, attention should be given to its causes. This softening is caused 
by an inflammatory condition or a gradual degeneration of the substance of the 
brain, arising from intense mental excitement, as a result of study, of the 
use of spirituous liquors, or allowing the mind to dwell on one subject un¬ 
pleasantly, especially when there is no real cause, as in fancied slights, conjec¬ 
tured injuries, or injustices and the like, moping over them, cherishing thoughts of 
them. This lamentable malady comes on at one time with a sudden head or ear 
ache, at another with difficulty of speech, or numbness, or convulsions, or para¬ 
lysis, or actual insensibility; at other times there is simply a decline of the power 
of the senses, sight, hearing, speech, and the mental powers generally. The same 
disease is caused by the want of something to do, when there is no compulsion to 
mental effort or muscular exertion. To ameliorate a malady arising from causes 
so diametrically opposite, antipodal means should be employed, less work to the 
overworked, more work for those who have nothing to do. 

Clergyman’s sore throat is almost always found to have its origin in the stomach, 
thus: The voice-organs are always heated and wearied by public speaking; then 
going out into a cold air too soon, they are too soon cooled off, are chilled, then 
conies the reaction of fever and inflammation, which relieves itself by an extra 
secretion of a viscid phlegm; this adheres to the delicate vocal cords, preventing 
them from vibrating freely, as glue on a fiddlestring; nature seems to know the 
cause, and there is an instinctive effort to hawk or hem or clear it away, and if 
successful, the voice, is clear enough for awhile until a re-accumulation of phlegm 
takes place, to be hemmed away as before. These coolings off being frequently 
repeated, a habit of hemming is set up, to the very great annoyance of both 
speaker and hearers. But the real cause is far back of this. If there had been 
sufficient vigor of circulation of general health the parts would not have been so 
easily cooled and chilled ; this want of vigor in the circulation arose from the want 
of a vigorous, a healthy digestion, resulting in poor, bad blood. This want of a 
vigorous digestion comes from two causes—eating too much, exercising too little ; 
hence a European trip generally cures clergymen’s sore throat, because there is a 
great deal of exercise and either a very little to eat, or the food is prepared in such 
a way that much cannot be eaten. Any ordinary case of clergyman’s sore throat, 
called chronic laryngitis, can be cured by adhering to the suggestions under the 
heading of “ General Health.” 

Catarrh is an extra discharge from the nose, coming down from the head, and 
is of two kinds—it has no odor, or it has an offensive one ; if it has no odor, three 
things will cure every case: avoid colds, keep the bowels acting every day, and 


708 


BALL'S FAMLLY DOCTOR. 


maintain the general health ; it can scarcely be called a disease, it is simply an 
effort of nature to relieve herself of a cold in the head by an extra discharge. 
As long as it remains in the head, it is a protection of the lungs against disease 
settling on them. It can only be made a serious disease by snuffing things up 
the nose to cure it. There never was a case of ordinary catarrh that either did 
not get well of itself, or that could not be cured perfectly and permanently in a 
reasonable time in the way named at the beginning of the article. This is said 
in the full knowledge of the fact that the newspapers have abounded in adver¬ 
tisements stating that it was a dangerous disease, and that it could be always 
cured for one, two, or ten hundred dollars. The other form of catarrh is where 
the odor is so offensive that it is perceived almost the moment the patient enters 
the room ; this is a catarrh connected with a scrofulous constitution, and never 
has been cured by any drug known ; the best plan is to let it alone, except to 
keep up the general health and free bowels ; if the offensiveness of the discharge 
continues, a weak solution of the chloride of potash, snuffed up the nose, night 
and morning, simply removes the odor, and that is all that ought to be done in 
any case to the nose directly. The representations made in the newspapers and 
in the pamphlets of irresponsible persons about the dangerous nature of any form 
of catarrh, and the ruinous results from neglect of paying a thousand dollars to 
get it cured, are utterly absurd. The real nature and meaning of what is desig¬ 
nated by catarrh is a cold in the head, and that is the very safest place in which 
a cold can settle ; and if treated at all, it should be treated as any other cold. 
If the reader has any extra discharge from the nose, all that he has to do is to 
keep the bowels freely acting every day, live temperately, avoid colds, and exer¬ 
cise or work in the open air a great part of every day. 

Paralysis is loss of motion in the body, in whole or in part; sometimes half of 
the whole body, as in paraplegia; sometimes of a single limb or muscle; in 
some cases there is partial motion, but the mind cannot control it; the limb 
moves, but not under the direction of the will ; this is because the nerves of 
motion are not nourished—are not strengthened enough to perform their proper 
service ; it is the blood which conveys the requisite nourishment, but it does not 
flow ; it stagnates—becomes congested ; muscular motion promotes the flow of 
the blood, but the patient has not the power to exercise ; in such cases artificial 
motion must be resorted to, either by the hand of another or by machinery; this 
is the very essence of “ Tiie Movement Cure,” to which public attention has 
been directed of late years, it having been first reduced to a system in Sweden. 
It is applicable in that great variety of cases where exercise is needed and yet 
the patient is too weak to engage in it, or cannot take enough to answer any 
effective purpose. The author considers it a humanity to direct the attention of 
any of his paralytic readers to the subject, since it is a malady over which med¬ 
icine has but-little if any control. 

Neuralgia is literally “nerve ache,” hence all pains are neuralgic, yet there 
are various kinds of pain. Rheumatism (see page 704) is pain in the joints, 
called arthritic rheumatism ; there is also a rheumatism of the muscles—that is, 
of the fibres which compose the muscles; the blood-vessels which supply 
the nerves are too full of blood—are distended more than is natural, and press 
against the nerve pulp, causing pain; that is, the blood-vessels which supply the 
nerves with nutriment, or are in immediate proximity to them, are congested; 
if the congestion is in the arteries, it is a sharp, acute, racking, or throbbing 
pain ; if the veins are congested, the pain is dull or heavy or grumbling. If the 
latter, a mustard plaster will relieve it at ouce; if the former, the direct ab¬ 
straction of blood by leeches or the lancet is the most immediate remedy. If 
the pain is in the face or teeth, twenty grains of the hydrate of chloral, or one 
grain of iodoform sometimes gives speedy and permanent relief. 

Croup and diphtheria are characterized by a membrane forming around the 
inside of the windpipe ; it must be removed or dissolved, or death is certain. 
Sometimes the steam of hot water will do this ; at others, it is admirably done 
by mixing one grain each of bromine and bromide of potash in two tablespoons 
of rain or snow or distilled water; dip a sponge in this, place it in a funnel or 
funnel-shaped pasteboard or paper, hold it to the mouth and nose of the child 
for five minutes every half hour ; infants breathe these fumes very well. 

Purification of Houses. —All cellars should have a fire-place in them, in 


ANNOTATIONS. 


769 


the same stack with the kitchen-fire ; and in all houses where there are' water- 
closets, there should be a pipe inserted just below the water-trap, as also below 
that of the kitchen-sink, the other end to terminate in the flue of the kitchen 
chimney, where there is always a draft upwards which would carry off all gase¬ 
ous impurities in a constant stream. • . 

Colds on the Chest. —All stuffings up and oppressions there, maybe removed 
by applying a large cold-water compress over the whole chest and another over 
the throat; if there is hoarseness for two or three hours in the morning soon after 
rising,^see the article on compresses and their management. 

Duinkino Water may be darned to excess, and is often done under an im¬ 
pression that it washes out the system, cleans it of its impurities. The more 
fluid of any kind a person drinks, the more labor must be performed by the sys¬ 
tem in carrying it out of the body, and the more it is fatigued by such an opera¬ 
tion ; hence persons may very easily drink too much of cold water, however pure 
it may be. The less water we drink, the better; in fevers, we may‘drink all 
we want, or swallow all the ice we desire ; but it is not healthy to drink much of 
any kind of liquid, as a general rule, except when thirsty. 

Bathing. —Cold baths are always dangerous in the after-part of- the day, in 
proportion as the person is tired .or warm ; under such circumstances, the warm 
bath is very reviving and refreshing i£ not more than ten or fifteen minutes are 
spent in it, as the warm water dissolves the impurities which obstruct the pores 
of the skin, and also'draws the blood to the surface, thus removing the conges¬ 
tions of the internal organs which are oppressed by them ; but after a warm bath 
in the evening it is best to go to bed, to avoid taking cold ; in this wa^ a delicious 
sleep is often promoted.- . ’ . 

. “Rain or Shine” should be the motto of all sedentary persons in reference 
to daily exercise, because a certain amount of it is needed to digest the food and 
work the accumulated wastes and impurities out of the system ;■ the fact of its 
raining does not prevent these accumulations. If exercise cannot be taken on 
any particular day, then but half the usual amount should be eaten, on the 
same principle, that, a*s on Sundays we exercise but very little in proportion to 
other days, but little should be eaten, and that should be of plain, untempting 
food, thus escaping sleepiness at church and the disagreeable unrest and discom¬ 
fort so common in the after-part of Sundays. 

Bright’s Disease is simply a congestion of the blood-vessels of the kidneys, 
always brought on by intemperance or sudden changes from heat to cold, as by 
checking perspiration, injudicious changes in clothing, or the application of 
dampness to the small of the back. It is. comparatively rare in latitudes where 
the weather is steadily cold or warm ; if promptly attended to it is easily cured, 
but, like consumption, it is incurable if neglected too long. More than one-half 
the cases in New York hospitals are among intemperate persons, hence are pre¬ 
ventable ; most of the other cases are preventable because they result from colds, 
dampness, or chills; an extra strip of flannel, or of buckskin outride the flannel, 
should be worn along the spine, covering the space between the shoulders, widen¬ 
ing out, until at the bottom it should cover the whole of the small of the back, 
by all who are liable to any affection of the kidneys or in- that region. It is of 
more importance to keep the spine well protected than the chest, because the 
latter is protected by a bony covering ; all observant persons know how soon a 
draught on the back will give a cold. It is said that one death in fifty in New 
York is from Brightls disease, one in ninety in London, one in two hundred and 
fifty in Paris, one in twenty-eight hundred in Bombay. It is our liquor-drinking, 
our hurry-scurry break-neck life, and the neglect of wearing the heaviest 
knitted woollen flannel next the skin from the first day of November to the first 
day of June, which cause the amazing disparities just stated. Such a gar¬ 
ment, thus worn by all elasses, especially the sedentary, the frail, and all above 
fifty, would diminish full one-half, in New York City, the diseases and deaths 
from coughs, colds, pleurisies, and especially inflammation of the lungs, that 
terrible scourge of our city. There is scarcely a family connection of any extent 
in which there is not made a gap every year by this sudden and rapialy fatal 
disease 

Fever and Ague, of many weeks’ continuance, may be promptly eradicated 
thus Put into a glass bottle sixty grains of sulphate of quinine, then add one 

49 


770 


HALTS FAMILY DOCTOR. 

hundred and twenty drops, that is, two teapoonsfuls or two drams, of elixir vitriol; 
to this add a pint of water or sixty tablespoonfuls ; this gives about one grain of 
quinine in one tablespoon of water. Two tablespoonfuls or two grains make a 
dose. The vitriol is added to dissolve the quinine more effectually, and thus 
make it more efficient. Take one dose six hours before the expected chill, and 
repeat every hour until there is a decided singing, ringing, roaring, or rumbling 
in the ears. This will prevent the chill from coming on. Then take from five to 
ten grains-of calomel or one or two liver-pills, according to the aggravation of the 
case ; if they do. not'act on the bowels within twelve hours, take salts or castor- 
oil, or an injection. Repeat this process six hours before the time for tho next 
chill; keep this, up three'or four days; it is’not often necessary to repeat it oft- 
ener than once. This is the most certain and speedy cure for fever and ague ever 
put in print hitherto.' 

Ingrowing Toe-Nail is a fearfully painful ailment. The safest and best cure 
up to this tune is to find the edge of the toe-nail with a probe, remove with a 
knife all the granulations and overgrowth, or proud flesh, on both sides, and 
nothing more whatever is needed except a bread-and-milk poultice, or any other, 
to remove the inflammation, securing a very free action of the bowels ; or apply 
freely a few drops of perck'loride of iron, night and morning, to the tender flesh, 
which it benumbs and hardens in a few days, so that it can be cut off or can be 
softened in water and removed with the finger-nail. 

Bilious Colic of the most painful and dangerous character may be promptly 
cured by putting a dram of chewing tobacco in a pint of boiling water ; use half' 
of it as an injection, keep it in awhile-, and, within half an hour, all pain will be 
gone, and then free evacuations will take place. If the symptoms return within a 
few days, repeat the injection, using a light diet meanwhile. It is an admirable 
remedy for nil forms of obstructed bowels, from its relaxing effects, and might be 
efficient in cases of intussusception—one part of the bowel ranking into another, 
as is seen in the finger of a glove sometimes—in drawjbg it off. Applicable, also, 
in lockjaw and strangulated hernia. These suggestions are very important, as the 
ailments-named are often fatal in a few hours. When there is very great pain in 
the bowels without much fever, add to half a teacupful of warm water, twenty 
grains of hydrate of chloral, twenty drops* of laudanum, and twenty pennyweights 
of tincture of belladonna, and retain it a few minutes. 

Summer complaint of infants and young children is often cured by giving from 
three to fifteen grains of pepsine, after having removed all undigested food from 
the bowels; sometimes ha-lf a grain or more of subnitrate of bismuth may be added 
to each dose. 

Neuralgia in any part may be removed promptly by the continuous applica¬ 
tion of galvanism for about two minutes, not removing the magnet or sponge from 
the skin, but moving them about on the skin. 

Catarrh just commencing is thus treated by Hagner > of Berlin Mix five 
parts each of carbolic acid and spirits of hartshorn' with fifteen parts of alcohol 
and ten parts water, kept in a dark glass bottle with ground-glass stopper. When 
the catarrh is commencing, lay a few drops on three layers of blotting or other 
soft paper, place this at the nose, shut the eyes and mouth, and draw up the 
breath forcibly and deep, as long as any smell is perceptible—repeat every two 
hours, until cured. It seems to cut short the disease at once. 

Sweating Feet, excessive. Dip them in cold water for a minute every 
morning, and sprinkle pulverized tannin freely in the bottom of the shoes every 
other day, wash the feet in warm water at night, afterwards dipping them in cold 
water for an instant. 

St. Vitus’ Dance, or Chorea, is an irregular twitching contraction of somo 
of the muscles of the body, limbs, face or fingers, but not during sleep; in many 
cases it is an excess of nervous energy, and more or less dependent on an ill con¬ 
dition of the bowels or stomach before fourteen years of age. Laughing 
at children, or scolding them, only aggravates the malady, often fixing it for 
life. The best remedy is regular eating' to be doing something out-of-doors all 
day, and to keep the bowels acting once and sometimes twice every day, by the fol¬ 
lowing mixture:—One dram of the citrate of iron, one dram of tincture "of bella¬ 
donna, two drams of the tincture of nux vomica, one lluid oz. of tincture of 
aloes and twelve ounces of lemon syrup; give one teaspoonful, more or less, night 


7 


ANNOTATIONS. 


771 


and morning, so. as to secure one full, free evacuation of the bowels every day. 
Continue all these until a cure is effected. 

Piles, or hsemorrhoids, is a very painful and troublesome affection about the 
end of the bowels,.or intestinal canal; it is literally a blood flow, and is very com¬ 
mon, generally affecting persons who sit a great deal, especially on soft, warm 
seats or cushions ; resulting often from costiveness, then aggravated by looseness, 
straining too much at stool, or remaining too long at stool, or pregnancy, or 
whatever else may cause congestion, or too much blood flowing into the small 
blood-vessels on the inner side of the lower end of the rectum, causing the sides 
of these little blood-vessels to distend or bulge out, as the blood is more and more 
crowded or wedged in, making little knobs, sometimes inside, sometimes outside, 
called internal and external piles ; when these little knobs burst, they are called 
bleeding piles; if they do not, “ blind piles these are the most painful, for the 
bleeding ones relieve themselves. After stooli-ng, the finger ends or balls should 
be placed on the parts, and pushed upwards as the patient rises, so as not to 
have the pile caught on the outside of the purse-string-like apparatus of the 
parts, for theil it will get larger and more painful as more blood- accumulates in 
it, while none can return in consequence of the constriction. Persons subject to 
piles must guard against costiveness in all ways possible, and night and morning 
and after each stool should plaee themselves over a basin of cold water, and flap 
it up against the parts until they fairly ache with cold ; this tends gradually to 
invigorate the blood-vessels and give them power to pass the blood onwards as 
fast as it arrives, and thus prevent congestion. If, after a fair trial, these reme¬ 
dies do not avail, and the blood escaping from the piles, under the mucous mem¬ 
brane, forms tumors from time to time, which break and discharge blood freely, 
then take an injection of cold water, three times a day, retaining it until warmed 
a little, the object being .to cool the parts; after each injection, or otherwise, 
grease the parts well with sulphur or any other ointment or pain-killer, the ob¬ 
ject being to soothe and cool the parts. Twice a day sit over a close vessel, 
containing hops, on which boiling water has been poured ; or the. leaves or seed of 
the stramonium, that is, thorn-apple, known by some as the “Jimson,” or 
Jamestown weed. Very many “pile ointments” are sold ; none of them have any 
virtue beyond a little sweet oil, or glycerine, or hog’s lard, or a level teaspoonful 
Of powdered sulphur, mixed well with two ounces of hog’s lard. A quicker way 
in. many cases is to apply to a surgeon, who will tie the foot of the pile with 
floss silk, tightening it every day or two, when the pile comes off. Some physi¬ 
cians prefer to cut them off at. once, and be done with it,. Regular bowels, 
hard seats, and cold water flappings and injections will prevent and cure most 
cases, if the diet is light and cooling, and rest on a bed is observed until relief 
is obtained. An ointment made of equal parts of lard, pondered. galls and 
opium or laudanum, is very soothing. If the bowels are very costive, take 
sulphur or castor-oil in small and frequent doses. . 

Sick Headache is a result of too much blood, congestion in the veins of the 
brain, and too little arterial blood in the arteries ; the congestion gives disturbed 
vision and cold feet and nausea ; the lack of blood in the arteries causes debility, 
faintness, and similar symptoms; hence lay the patient flat without a pillow, 
with the arms' extended above the head ; these aid the heart in sending more 
blood to the. brain ; then bathe the feet in hot water, may add mustard, or encase 
them in hot ashes' or hot salt; this draws the excess of venous blood from the 
Head to the feet, or equalizes the circulation, which may be still further ener¬ 
gized by any diffusible stimulant, strong red pepper or ginger-tea, or a few drops 
of hartshorn or camphor in a little water. If much pain in the head, keep a 
cloth wrung out of hot water on it all the time, and drink freely of very warm 
water until vomiting is induced, and if the bowels are costive, take an injection. 
The hot cloths to the head disperse the congested biood of the veins and invite 

the arterial flow. , 

Heartburn, or Acidity. —Aitkin, of Edinburgh, gives as his favorite remedy 

a powder thrice a day of fifteen grains of bicarbonate of soda and three giains 
of nitrate of potash ; carbonate of ammonia, one grain ; extract of gentian, two 
grains ; in- form of pill, thrice a day for a weak digestion ; but in either case a 
liver pill should be taken at bed-time, not to be repeated within a month, aided 
by a strict fruit diet and plentiful out-door exercise. 


772 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 

Costiyeness. —Dr. Aitkin induces one gentle motion'of the bowels daily by 
giving early in the morning a pill made of four grains of the compound extract 
of colocynth with half a grain each of sulphate of iron and extract-of nux vomica. 

- Mineral Acid.- —Drs. Aitkin and Bence Jones think that, as a general rule, 
sulphuric acid is astringent, hydrochloric acid promotes digestion, while nitric 
acid, or aquafortis, largely diluted, aids the secretions. 

Indigestion, from want of the proper amount of gastric juice, is aided by Da 
Costa’s.remedy : one dram of nitro-muriatic acid in two oz. of wine of pepsin. 
After each meal take one teaspoonful, keeping the bowels free, using meats 
mainly, and avoiding sweets and starches. 

Chloroform should never be token in surgical or dental operations except 
under three conditions : 1, the person should not be brought under its influence 
in a shorter time than twenty minutes; 2, the force or volume of the pulse 
should not be perceptibly diminished ;" 3, nor should the skin be darkened. 
With these three conditions chloroform, as an anaesthetic,- it may be considered 
safe. 

Hydrate of Chloral, to promote sleep, should not be taken in doses exceeding 
thirty grains; should not be taken when there is fever, or dysentery, or chronic 
diarrhoea, or rheumatism, or typhus, or heart affections, or hysteria; it should 
never be taken except dissolved in some liquid in proportion of twenty parts to 
a hundred; .it is best taken in beef-tea, or syrup of orange-peel, or as an enema 
in gruel. 

Antibilious Pills have been used for thirty years by a Georgian physician ; 
if any one wants to make them purely vegetable antibilious pills, use soap instead 
of the calomel. 

Sixty grains each of calomel, aloes, and rhubarb, mixed with twelve grains 
each of capsicum, gamboge, podophyllin, and extract of hyoscyamus, make it 
into a mass with water or syrup and divide into twenty-tw r o pills; dose from two 
to four at bed-time; if they do not act on the bowels in twelve hours take a 
tablespoonful of castor-oil or Epsom salts every two hours until the bowels move. 

Burns. —To one hundred parts of glycerine add three parts of freshly pre¬ 
cipitated hydrate of lime and three parts of chlorinated chlorohydric ether ; 
this makes a clear, transparent liquid, * using more or less of the glycerine. This 
is a favorite application of De Bruyne, of Brussels. Wet several folds of fine 
linen thoroughly with this preparation and lay it on the part, covering it with 
oiled silk, india-rubber cloth, or even flannel, to prevent evaporation; it is also 
an excellent preparation for ill-conditioned, and noisome wounds, sores, and 
ulcers, and in dry, scaly, and itching conditions of the skin. 

Liniment for small-pox, erysipelas, rheumatism, sprains, gout, and carbuncle, 
soothing and cooling, also raging inflammations; it is sometimes almost Won¬ 
derful in its effect; it also disinfects as well as cools : Gasoline, one pint; gum 
camphor, one ounce; pulverized sulphite of soda, one dram ; pure carbolic 
acid, thirty drops. Sponge the whole body with this -mixture every two hours 
in small-pox, or other more limited diseased parts, taking ten drops in sweetened 
water every three hours during daylight. It also checks all forms of ulceration; 
its main virtue lies in its great power of evaporation ; a bottle of it with ground 
stopper may be well kept in every family. 

Worm medicines should be given in their most concentrated forms, hence 
early in the morning when there is no food or fluid on the stomach to dilute 
them, and for the-same reason do not eat or drink anything for two or three" 
hours, and then before eating take a dose of castor-oil to carry off the worm 
medicine and the worms with it. Worms thrive on the diseased mucous membrane 
of the intestines ; worms cannot exist in a healthy condition, of the alimentary 
canal and digestive functions. Hence, after having got rid of any kind of worms, 
means should be taken to improve the general health or they may return. What 
kills one kind of a worm may not hurt another. The most efficient worm medi¬ 
cines are the areca nut, felix mas, kamela, kousso/mucuna, pomegranate root 
bark, pumpkin seed, santonine, scammony, Tin, powdered, turpentine spirits. 
Santonine is almost a specific fpr thread worms; two or three grains in a tea¬ 
spoonful or two of castor-oil every morning for three or four mornings. Mixed 
with castor-oil and albumen as an injection, santonine kills thread worms in ten 
minutes. 



k 

ANNOTATIONS. . 773 

Lumbago of a virulent form is reported by Homoeopaths to have been per¬ 
manently cured by giving one drop of the spirit of Venice turpentine on a lump 
of loaf sugar, thrice a day. 

Best Beep Tea. —Lay a thin steak on a board, scrape it with a knife un¬ 
til nothing but the fibrous tissue is left; mix what is scraped off with three times 
as much cold water, stir it most thoroughly, put it over a moderate fire and let it 
come slowly to a boil, stirring it well all the time to keep it thoroughly mixed and 
to prevent the burning or caking of the pulp ; as soon as it comes to a boil, re¬ 
move, let it cool, and season it to the taste ; take from two to six tablespoonfuls 
at a time; this is the best concentrated meat fibre, the most nutritious beef-tea 
that can be made. 

PsoiUAsrs is a scaly eruption of the skin Wash and rub off the scales with warm 
water and soap, then paint the skin with acetic acid or strong vinegar; it smarts 
considerably, so operate on two or three square inches at one time; scales form, 
and in two or three days fall off, then renew the application; but apply it three- 
times a day, until the skin whitens and puffs up; a cure is effected within a 
month if the bowels are made to act daily and the food consists only of coarse 
Breads and fruits. 

Hemorrhages, or bleedings and aneurisms of every description,—lungs, nose, 
menorrhagia, etc., etc.,—seem to have been controlled by five drops of Norwood's 
tincture of veratrum viride hourly for five or six hours. In aneurisms, increase 
one drop every hour, until the sedative effects are seen. 

Blisters oh the inner side of the thighs have been exceedingly efficient in 
swelled testicle, chronic gonorrhoea, and labial abscess. 

Coughing Paroxysms, sore throat, and hoarseness are often wonderfully re¬ 
lieved by carrying in the pocket a piece of rich pine, and when needed, cut off a 
few shavings with a pen-knife ; hold them in the mouth, which is to be kept closed ; 
the air coming in at the nostrils and reaching the throat and lungs, after it has 
passed through the shavings, more or less carries their odorous particles along 
with it ;• it seemed to cure in one case of twenty years’ standing. 

Pin-worms IN Horses are cured by mixing with their food every other day a 
gill of wood-ashes, because there is acidity causing a diseased condition of the 
inner covering, the mucous membrane of the bowels; in this worms thrive; the 
ashes form an alkali with the fluids of the stomach and correct the acidity ; hence 
a little salmratus or half a dozen drops of hartshorn or any other alkali, in a little 
water at each meal, is .sufficient sometimes to dislodge pin-worms. Or from 
half to a whole teaspoonful pf * the iron scales around the anvil, powdered in 
syrup, every morning,, and a teaspoonful of flowers of sulphur at bed-time, for 
ten or fifteen days ; omit a week, then repeat, if the worms have not disappeared. 
Dr. Butler, of the Philadelphia Medical and Surgical Journal, says he has cured 
epilepsy in the same way repeatedly, and other nervous •affections from similar 
causes. - 

Toothache is modified oh the principle of derivation in many cases, by partly 
filling a large-mouthed vial with the bisulphuret of carbon and placing it against 
the cheek, near the tooth, with the stopper out*for a minute or two by the watch; 
re-apply if the pain returns; it is a temporary but a very welcome relief; 
if the pain arises from Ulceration or decay, the teeth :must be removed. In 
about a minute a slight burning is felt on the cheek, from the fumes of the 
article coming in contact with the skin. 

Frosted Feet cause intolerable itching, because of contact with the oxygen 
of the air; if there is no swelling, dissolve gum shellac in alcohol and spread it 
over the part thickly.; it dries without sticking to the stocking, and thoroughly 
excludes the air. If there is swelling and pain, cover with any good sticking- 
plaster or salve ; if there is great inflammation and pain, keep it covered from 
the air with any moist poultice. 

Dysmenorriicea. —Begin two days before the time and take night and morn¬ 
ing, in water, from ten' to twenty drops of the following mixture ; dissolve one 
ounce each of gum guaiac and balsam canadensis in four ourices of alcohol, le.t it 
stand three days, then pour off the clear liquid, to which add four ounces of al¬ 
cohol in which has been dissolved one scruple of corrosive sublimate. >\hen 
•the flow is established, omit until next time, keeping the bowels active daily 
and using a fruit diet. 


frfr * 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR 


Stomach Irritable or Cholera Morbus, not from organic cause, has been 
successfully treated for ten years thus : one drop of creosote in one ounce of lime- 
water ; give five drops every ten minutes, or one drop every three minutes. 

'Stomach irritation, or ‘‘Morning Sickness” of Pregnant Women, if 
nothing is ea,ten after a noonday dinner, but a cracker or some bread-crust broken 
into a cup of tea for supper, is cured thus: take twelve grains each of-lactate of 
iron, citrate of iron and strychnine, and sulphate of quinine; make into twelve 
powders, and take one every four hours during the day-time. 

Chapped Nipples. —M. Van Holsbeck recommends the following formula as 
of great service :—Oil of cade (empyreumatic oil of juniper) 3£, oil of almonds 3, 
glycerine 3. When the chaps are very large and deep the proportion of oil of 
cade must be increased. It is .to be applied every time the child has sucked 
by means of a badger’s-hair brush. The child exhibits no repugnance to it. 
For a short time the application causes a little heat; but in a few days the sores 
are healed. 

Piles, external, have often been cured by the use of rectified oil of amber as a 
wash, or made into an ointment with sweet oil, lard, or glycerine, and- rubbed 
well into the parts night and morning with the finger. It smarts at first only. 

Diphtheria. —Dr. Bailhache of Springfield, Illinois, says : The local applica¬ 
tion of a solution of persulphate of iron ( Liquor ferri persulphatis ), in cases of 
diphtheria and ulcerated sore throat, acts almost as a specific in arresting the ul¬ 
cerative inflammation of these two alarming diseases. It should be applied un-. 
diluted by means of a probang (or a rag securely fastened upon one end of a bent 
stick) immediately to the ulcerated patches or sloughs. Two or three such appli¬ 
cations, together with the usual tonic treatment, will restore the parts to a 
healthy condition in twenty-four hours.” 

Dysentery.— Creosotum, 10 drops; acetic acid, 20 drops; su’phate of mor¬ 
phine, 2 grains—all mixed in an ounce of distilled water. A\easpoonful of this is 
given every three or four hours to adults ; smaller doses are given to children, in 
gum-arabic mucilage. Drs. McMath and Weilder consider it nearly, if no.t entire¬ 
ly, a specific in dysentery. 

Cholera Prescription. —The Board of Health of New York city recom¬ 
mends the following prescription in severe cases of diarrhoea, when the services 
of a physician cannot be immediately obtained. 

Tincture of opium, tincture of camphor, tincture of capsicum, of each 1 drachm ; 
chloroform, half a drachm; mix and take half a teaspoonful after every evacua¬ 
tion. This will in most instances cure a diarrhoea, but it does not follow that it 
will cure cholera.- The typhoid symptoms which the disease leaves behind it in 
the system must have other treatment; but much has been g-ained when these 
characteristics have been overcome. By the use of the above remedy until a pa¬ 
tient can be seen by a physician, a recovery may occur which would be hopeless 
if the disease were permitted to go unchecked into a full or even partial col¬ 
lapse. • 

Croup, and the forming stages of diphtheria, have been cured during a practice 
of seventeen years thus: Have four or five folds of muslin or linen, large 
enough to cover the. whole throat from ear to ear and the upper part of the breast 
nearly down to the nipples; dip this cloth into ice water or even fresh spring or 
well water, wring it out just enough to prevent dripping ; cover this with several 
thicknesses of dry woollen flannel, then secure all with a silk handkerchief; as soon 
as the first clbth has become warm, have another ready to apply in its place, and 
continue until perfect relief, which takes place as soon as the skin over the 
throat comes down to its natural warmth. The water must not dribble on the 
clothing. ' ’ .• 

Asthma.--A ll that a man has will he give for relief in the dreadful paroxysms 
of asthma. • A remedy is sometimes efficient to-day and useless to-morrow, and 
may be as good as ever next week; hence several are here named. * The smoke of 
the dried leaves'of stramonium, that is the thorn-apple or “Jimson” weed. 
Bum the leaves in a funnel.turned upside do vn, conducting the smoke into a wide¬ 
mouthed bottle turned upside down, hold the nose, take the bottle-mouth in the 
mouth, draw in the fullest breath, close tne mouth, hold it as long as you can, 
then let the air out of the lungs, and-then inhale again; continue until relieved. 
The fumes of burning coarse paper which has been soaked in saltpetre-water and 


775 


ANNOTATIONS. 

dried can be inhaled in the same way. Chloric ether breathed sometimes relieves; 
at others, ten grains of the sulphate of alum in fine powder, plastered far back 
on the tongue, is often beneficial, if allowed to dissolve, and is then swallowed. 
The fumes of burning tobacco, inhaled like the stramonium, sometimes give 
grateful relief. Strong Mocha coffee, a swallow or two at a time, is good. If the 
attack is from mental causes, an injection-of two grains of the sulphate of mor¬ 
phine with a drachm of the tincture of assafoetida in a little water, so as to be 
retained, has given almost instantaneous relief when all other things have failed. 
.Any person subject to attacks of this most agonizing malady, should have all 
these remedies on hand, in the house, all the time, and, if he goes on a journey, 
should take them with him. 

Skin Disease from Syphilis is often removed thus: Two grains of corro¬ 
sive, sublimate and two grains of the iodide of potash, dissolved in eight ounces 
of water; take near one tablespoonful thrice a.day. 

Liniment, of extraordinary value in all forms of skin-heat, fever,- and inflam¬ 
mation. Sponge the parts every two or three hours, until relieved, and give five 
or ten drops in sweetened water every three hours in carbuncle, erysipelas, gout, 
rheumatism, spasms; in small-pox, reducing its heat, neutralizing its odor, pre¬ 
venting exhalation and pitting, and soothing the whole body. One pint of gaso¬ 
line, one ounce of gum camphor, one drachm of pulverized sulphite of soda, and 
thirty drops of pure carbolic acid. Every family owes it to itself to keep a 
bottle of this invaluable liniment on hand, all the time, marked “ Poison 4 ” in 
large letters, as a drink of it would be fatal; but its external application has 
amazing value, in reducing the fiery rage of inflammation in very many cases. 

Milk Cure. —Fresh, sweet, warmed, not too hot to be drank, nor boiled, has 
great curative powers, if judiciously used; its safety and efficiency in all poisons 
has already been noticed, and the reader’s special attention is solicited to what 
follows. The London Milk Journal , on the authority of Dr. Benjamin Clark, 
states that in the East Indies warm milk is regarded by many as a specific, whieh 
means an almost certain cure, for diarrhoea ; it is used in the United States, in the 
form of ice-oream, for the cure of loose bowels in children. One pint of warm, 
fresh sweet milk every four hours, will often check the most violent diarrhoea, 
stomach-ache, dysentery and cholera. A gehtleman states he has tried it as of¬ 
ten perhaps as fifty times in his own case, with unvarying success in from six to 
twelve hours. One man seemed to be dying from diarrhoea of eight months’ stand¬ 
ing; hi three weeks he-was a hale, hearty-man. The Medical Times and Gazette 
states that in 26 cases of typhoid fever, it did not fail to be of great value; it 
checks the diarrhoea and nourishes and cools the body. Every man ought to re-' 
member that nourishment is as imperatively needed in disease as well as in health, 
especially in nervous diseases, and warm sweet milk will remain on the stomach, 
in many cases, when nothing else will, not even cold water, and not only nour¬ 
ishes but soothes and cools, promotes sleep, and averts delirium. In scarlet 
fever, give the patient as much warm milk as can be taken; it nourishes, sus¬ 
tains, and in many cases is a blessed remedy, as above applied. 

Small-pox is almost infallibly modified by, as well as scarlet fever, thus: Sul¬ 
phate of zinc, one grain; foxglove (digitalis), one grain; half a teaspoonful of 
water. Mix most thoroughly, then add four ounces of water or eight tablespoon¬ 
fuls, take one to four teaspoonfuls every hour. 

Constituents OF Food. —Scientific investigation has determined the follow¬ 
ing as being the proportion of constituents, in the ordinary articles of food which 
are utilized in the nourishment of the human body, and may be studied by all 
with interest and profit.. The table is to be read thus: One hundred pounds of 
artichokes* contain two pounds or two per cent, of nitrates, that is of that quality 
or ingredient of the food which helps to make muscle dr flesh; nineteen, per 
cent, of carbon or that which warms the body. ' Fats, oils and sugars are nearly 
all carbon, can be burnt, leaving nothing (see in the table), butter, lard and .suet; 
so the carbonates warm. The nitrates giye strength of body,- the phosphates 
feed the brain and bones, and* strengthen both, of which there is only two per cent, 
in the artichoke, while seventy-six per cent, is water and one part waste, that is, 
cannot be used in any wav and is voided from the body. It will be seen that the 
largest portion of ordinary food is water; thus persons in common life and in good 
health really need very little fluid of any kind, unless they exercise a great deal 


776 


BALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


or are overheated. The general use to be made of the table is in four direc¬ 
tions : — 

1. If costive, use the food which has the most waste ; this accumulates in the 
lower bowel, distends it, like an injection. . 

• 2. If the bowels are too loose use .the most concentrated food, having little 
waste or Water, as rice. 

3. If the body is chilly in cold weather, the oils, the food which has the most 
carbon, is appropriate, if it can be digested. The Greenlanders luxuriate in oil 
and fats. 

4. If the system is feverish, use the fruits, for they are nearly all water, having 
little nutriment and no waste, hence do not opjDress the system, but cool it off, 
keep it open and free ; a blank means an inappreciable quantity. 


ARTICLES. 

Nitrates. 

Carbonates. 

Phosphates. 

Water. 

Waste. 

Artichoke. 

2 

19 

2 

76 

1 

Asparagus... 

1 

5 

1 

93 


Bacon.. 

8 

63 

1 

28 


Barley...... 

32 

15 

4 

14 

17 

Beans. 

24 

40 

3 

15 

18 

Beef.‘. 

19 

14 

2 

68 


Buckwheat.. 

9 

53 

2 

14 

22 

Butter..'. 


100 




Cabbage.•.. 

1 

6 

1 

91 

1 

Carp.*. 

18 

1 

3 

78 


Carro'ts........ 

1 

12 

1 

83 

3 

Cauliflower... 

‘ 4 

5- 

1 

89 

1 

Corn, Southern. 

‘ 12 

68 

1 

14 

5 

Corn, Northern. 

35 

39 

4 

14 

8 

Cheese.. -... 

31 

28 

5 

36 


Cherries.. 

1 

21 

1 

76 

1 

Chicken... 

21 

2 

3 

74 


Chocolate...'. 

9 

88 

2 

. 

1 

Clams. 

12 

1 

3 

74 


Codfish. 

16 

1 

2 

80 


Cream... 

4 

5 


91 


Cucumbers. 

1 

- '2' 

1 

95 

1 

Currants. 

1 

7 


81 

’ 11 

Dates, Fresh. 


74 


24 

2 

Eels... 

17 

4 

4 

75 


Eggs, White of. 

13 


3 

86 


Eggs, Yolk of. 

Figs.. 

17 

30 

2 

51 


5 

58 

3 

20 

14 

Flounders. 

15 

3 

4 

78 


Green Gages... 

1 

26 . 

26 

45 • 

2 

Haddock.. 

14 

1 

3 

82 


Halibut.. 

18 

3 

4 

75 



35 

32 

4 

29 


Herrings.. 

Y8- 

3- 

4 ' 

75 


Horse-radish. 

• 

• 5 . 

1 

76 

16 

Kidney.. 

21 

1 

1 

76 

Lamb. ... •. 

20 

14 

2 

64 

• 

Lard. 

. 

100 . 




Lentils....:. 

26 

39 

2 

14 

20 

Liver..... 

26 

4 

1 

69 

Lobster.. .. 

14 

1 

5 

79 


Milk, Cow. 

5 

8 

1 

86 

• t 
































































ANNOTATIONS. 


777 


ARTICLES. 

Nitrates. 

Carbonates. 

Phosphates. 

Water. 

• i 

as 

c3 

/ 

Milk, Human.. 

3 

7 

1 

89 


Oats.. 

17 

51 

3 

14 

15 

Onions . 

1 

5 

1 

93 


Ovster. 

13 



87 


Parsnips..... 

2 . 

14 

1 

79 

3 

Pearl Barley.. 

5 

78 

2 

9 

8 

Pears. ..... _ 


10 


86 

4 

Peas... 

23 

41 

3- 

14 

19 

Pigeon. 

23 

2 

3 

72 

* 

Potatoes... 

2 

10 

•1 

• 73 

. 8 • 

Potatoes, Sweet. 

2 

22 

3 

67 

6 

Pork.i. .. 

17 

17 

2 

66 • 


Prunes ... 

• 4 

79 

5 

12 


Radishes. ... 

1 

7 

1 

89 

1 

Rice.;. 

* 5 

82 • 

5 

10 

3 

Rye... 

7 

75 

1 

• 13 

4 

Salmon. 

20 

1 

6 

73 


Smelt..... 

17 

2 

6 

• 75 


Sole. 

17 

1 ' 

2 

80 


Suet.. ... 


100 




Trout. 

17 

1 

4 

78 


Turbot . 

' 14 

1 

5 

80 


Turnips.. 

1 

4 

1 

90 

4 

Veal.. 

18 

• 14. 

2 

66 


Venison.. 

20 

8 

3 

66 


Vermicelli. 

47 

38 

1 

14 


Wheat.. 

15 

G6 

2 

13 

4 

Whey . 


5 

1 

94 


Whiting . . 

15 

6 


79 



URINATION. • 

Very many persons keep themselves in a constant state of dis¬ 
quietude by inspecting the urine, and drawing adverse conclusions. 
from its quantity, frequency, and color, when in reality the con¬ 
ditions are the natural results of the varying circumstances of 
human life ; only an experienced physician is competent to decide. 
what indicates disease and what health. If the weather is cold 
or becomes so suddenly, the pores of the skin are closed and the 
fluids are driven inwards, and what would have been gotten rid 
of by perspiration, must be carried out of the system through the. 
kidneys and the bladder, then the urine is of* a- lighter or amber ■ 
















































ITS 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


color and in much larger quantities. If a person perspires a 
great deal, works hard in warm weather, then most of the water 
passes from -the body by perspiration ; and thereby, so wonderful 
are the economies of nature in her operations, this very useless 
matter, useless because it has subserved its purposes, is made a 
means of cooling the body, by its evaporation, as it escapes from 
it, carrying away in steam the extra heat of the system, as wit¬ 
ness the dry condition of the skin in fever, how it burns up the 

bodv and soon wastes awav the life unless subdued. 

~ * • 

"When persons perspire profusely, the more fluid portions of the 
waste water escape by the skin ; the more solid parts are con¬ 
veyed away through the interior channels; hence, in warm 
weather, the mine is scant, is of a high color, and deposits more 
or less sediment, usually reddish ; these more solid particles fre¬ 
quently cause irritation or burning in their passage, and the dis¬ 
charges are frequent and scant. Articles of food and drink 
greatly influence the color and quantity of the urine : buttermilk, 
lemonade, flaxseed tea. watermelons, Ac., largely increase the 
amount of water. Although free urination is a sign of health, 
as a general rule, it must not be concluded that the freeer it is,- 
the more healthful we must be, and therefore that it “is healthy” 
to drink large quantities of cold water because it “washes out the 
svstem.” Drinkins: cold water has ruined the health of thousands, 
it has brought on chills.at the dinner table, in feeble persons, 
resulting: in death in a few davs. in a few hours sometimes. Mul- 

. C m 

titudes have brought On life-long dyspepsias, simply by getting 
into the habit of drinking a glass or two or more of ice water at 
meals ; this ice water is at forty degrees; it must be warmed up 
to ninety-eight degrees lefore the stomach can go on with the 
work of digestion ; this abstracts, absorbs so much of the heat of the 
system as sometimes to cause a feeling of chilliness at the dinner 
table, even on a summer's day—quite a common thing in feeble 
constitutions—and every chill must be followed by a fever and this 
is a cold, hence drinking a glass of ice water may give a person a 
cold, may abstract heat from the system so rapidly as to chill it, 
and the chill falling on the lungs may induce Pneumonia in a few 
hours. A French general of artillery, in the Crimean war, hav¬ 
ing exerted himself in bringing some cannon to an eminence, 
found himself tired, thirsty,. and perspiring ; he drank in his 
haste, a glass or two of snow water, a chill followed; Mamma- 



URINATION. 


779 


tion of tlie lungs set in, and lie died in a few days, very generally 
regretted, for lie was a good officer and a brave man; it was not 
that.it was snow water, it was the coldness-of it which killed him. 
A glass of spring or ice water may be taken at a repast with im¬ 
punity, for a time.at least, by robust persons, but it is an injuri¬ 
ous habit for all that, in all cases. If persons must drink some¬ 
thing at meal time, the liquid should be hot; persons who are not 
robust, all old persons, require a single cup of hot drink, and 
1 lie best thing is a cup of tea; that kind of China tea, which of 
the very many different kinds, seems to agree with the person 
using it; but in all cases where any discomfort whatever follows 
drinking a cup of tea or drinking anything'else, that thing should 
be let alone : common sense teaches' that. If a person is chilly 
or very tired on sitting down to a meal, a cup of hot tea is very 
comforting, very refreshing, and . very healthful, an unmistakable 
good, physiologically speaking, without any possible ill; a single 
cup; for if any fluid is largely drunk, even cold water, it should 
be remembered that every drop of it .must be worked out of the 
system at the expense, of a certain amount of nervous power ; 
hence, to over-drink without being thirsty, to force fluids down 
into the stomach, requiring, absolutely, an effort to swallow them, 
whether simple cold-water or medicinal water, as at the various 
springs of the country, is a physiological absurdity, a delusion and 
a snare, always does an injury, never does an unmixed good, 
whatever maybe the general prejudice to the contrary. No beast 
drinks without feeling like it; and why should man guzzle down 
whole quarts of villainous compounds, sulphurous and fiery, when 
his whole-nature rises in repugnance against it ? If the instincts 
crave these things or cold water between meals, then they are 
grateful and will do good. Small wonder is it that fanatical 
water people, persons who swallow whole tumblerfuls before 
breakfast every morning, to a wash out the system,” and continue 
at it until the habit is forced on the body,—and it is called for 
just as liquor is called for when it becomes'a habit, to indulge in 
it—small wonder is it that the stamina- of the system is wasted 
away and body and brain all become watery together, simply 
because . so much of the nervous energy is used up in working 
these immense amounts of liquid out of the body, there is 
not enough left to carry On the machinery of the mind. These 
things certainly merit the consideration of all intelligent 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


780 

minds, because they are of practical occurrence every day. 
Now and then a glass of .ice water at dinner is admissible, if only 
three or four swallows are taken at a time ; it is the regular Jiabit 
which is opposed. The general truth is, it is better to take but 
little liquid at meals, and what is taken will do-more good in almost 
all cases if it is something less than scalding-hot; by the warm¬ 
ing up the stomach it kindles a fire in the center of the system at 
once, the heat alone rousing up the circulation and imparting new 
life, especially if in the form of tea, but to use strong hot China 
tea largely at almost every meal, will undermine the health and 
shorten the life of all who practice it. Returning to the subject 
of .urination, it is important to remember a few practical every¬ 
day facts. A gentleman of forty calle'd, complaining that the 
water dribbled away all the time, attributing his misfortune to the 
fact that while he was a young clerk he was so anxious to please 
his employers that he made every effort possible to avoid leaving 
his desk, and to that end got into the habit of retaining his urine 
from morning until night; this set up a slow inflammation result¬ 
ing as above. 

Medical works record cases where persons have died in a few 
days from inflammation of the bladder caused by resisting the 
call of nature for an evacuation, from a false sense of modesty or 
apparent necessity, as sitting in stage coaches, being kept in 
crowded assemblies. Children should be early taught to urinate 
before going on a visit, or going to church, or any public gather¬ 
ing, for when the bladder is distended to a certain point it loses 
its power of contracting upon its contents, inflammation follows 
and death ensues within a week unless surgical means are applied. 

As persons grow old the desire for urination increases in fre¬ 
quency, making it necessary after fifty, to get up several times in 
the night, not however that, there is any disease. . Many persons 
are greatly annoyed from misapprehension as to this point. 
Urination should never be attempted unless the parts are very 
flaccid ; otherwise rupture of the canal and stricture follow, in¬ 
volving expensive surgical appliances or life-long discomfort. 

* / 

- sr« -- 

PARALYSIS OR PALSY FROM THE BRAIN, 

causes a cessation of growth of the nails on the palsied side; 




VARIOUS REMEDIES. 


7 SI 


when the nails begin to grow again, it indicates that the person 

is recovering, but they grow slowly, requiring four or five months 

lor an entire new nail; the nail may be stained with nitrate of 

silver just where it joins the skin, this indicates the rapidity of 

growth. * • . * * • 

• • 

. ’ECZEMA ~ 

• • 

is a “ boiling out,” an eruption of vesicles close together without 
fever or inflammation at the base; keep the bowels free, live on 
berries, fruit, and coarse bread, and wash the parts thrice a 
day with the following solution: two drams of Hydrate of Chloral 
to a pint of water. • 

“ WETTING THE BED” 

at night by children; give one drop of Creosote combined with 
two grains of Asafcetida; thrice a day. 

• • 

HEMORRHAGE AND ANEURISMS 

are often arrested permanently by giving five drops of Yeratrum 
viride, increasing it one drop at each dose, at three'hours interval 
until the full sedative effect, cessation of bleeding, .Ac., occurs, 
requiring sometimes two weeks’ perseverance.. 

•ULCERS 

• * % - 
of the legs are sometimes cured by uniform pressure with strap¬ 
pings and bandages, uncovering only once or twice a week, plain 
food, fresh air, and free bowels. . 

• • . ‘ • . DROPSY OF THE LIVER 

... • • . 

• • • 

has been cured by giving Hydrochlorate of Ammonia, in thirty 
drop doses, every five hours, diluted with water to the extent 
of making it agreeable ; valuable in other affections of the liver. 

NERVOUS PERSONS, 

% 

whose hands shake when stretched out, who are easily agitated, or 
annoyed, may find great relief by eating stalks of blanched celery, 
in moderation, two or three times a day. 


782 


RALL’S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


SOUP 

• t . 

to be nourishing, s cl have potatoes or bread or other solid sub¬ 
stance in it, as there is some, but very little nutriment left, if the 
■ fat is skimmed off and the meat or flesh is, removed ; still if taken 
hot, it has a stimulating, appetizing effect on the system. 

‘hay fever • . 

in all its forms, is promptly averted, arrested and cured, at least 
for the time being, by a residence in the island of Mackinaw.; the 
same' has been said of the White • Mountains and some other lo¬ 
calities ; but few persons comparatively, who suffer from the 
annual visitation, have the means to enable them to make a yearly 
pilgrimage to this delightful spot. See page 208. 

. . . NEURALGfA OF THE FACE 

• • • « 

and other parts is sometimes almost instantaneously removed thus : 

one dram or tea-spoonful of white of egg; Rhigoline, four ounces 

and one ounce each of Collodion and Chloroform, shake it well 

aiid often during twenty-four hours', when it becomes jelly-like and 

retains*tliis form for months, but it is ready for use after the first 

shaking; to be applied with a brush or mop, along the direction . 

of the nerve and rubbed into the skin briskly with the fingers. 

• • •* 

• • 0 • 

INGROWING TOE NAIL 

is cured by Dr. Finch, who says : “ Neither of the cutting opera¬ 

tions is at all necessary'for the complete and rapid cure of ingrow¬ 
ing toe-nail. If a small, thin, flat piece of silver plate be bent at 
one edge into a slight, deep groove, and, after the toe has been 
poulticed twenty-four hours, slipped beneath the edge of the nail,* 
so as'to protect the flesh from its pressure, and the rest of the 
plate bent round the side and front of the toe, being kept in posi¬ 
tion with a small portion of resin plaster passed round the toe, a 
speedy and almost painless cure will take place; and‘the patient, 
after the first day, has the additional advantage of being able to 
walk. I have followed this method in numerous cases with uni¬ 
form success.’ ’ . 

SICK HEADACHE 

is so common and so distressing, that a multiplicity of remedies 
are given, so that some of them may be had in almost any locali- 


• VARIOUS REMEDIES. 783 

• • • • 

ty (see pages 670, 755, and 770) ; whether induced by mental 
emotion, or a disordered stomach, empty the bowels promptly by an 
enema, or seidlitz powder, or castor oil, or salts, then’take a heap¬ 
ing tea-spoonful of pulverized charcoal in half a glass of water; 
this at once absorbs the gases and relieves the distended stomacli 
which caused the headache, by pressing against the nerves which 
extend from the stomach to the head. Relief is at other times 
obtained by taking two or three table-spoons of liquid magnesia, 
followed with ten or fifteen grains of chloral hydrate, combined 
with five grains of chloride of potash. More than one-half the 
cases of sick headache are believed to arise from the too 
free use of tea, such are generally cured by total abstinence 
from the use of tea. At the same time persons having sick 
headache, who do not use tea, are relieved by drinking a 
weak infusion. Sick headache arising from nervous irritation is 
sometimes permanently relieved by sitting ten or fifteen minutes 
in hot water in which has been dissolved a table-spoonful or two of 
carbonate of soda. 

ITCfilNG OR PRURITUS OF WOMEN. 

• * • 

In one ounce of distilled. water dissolve thirty grains of the 
sulplio-carbonate of zinc. Bathe the parts thoroughly in tepid 
water, then wash with the preparation twice a day, allowing it to 
dry in; keep on week after week, until entirely relieved;. have a 
daily action of the bowels. Itching of the fundament arises from 
the - presence of worms,* or from a scrofulous irritation ; if from 
the former, see page 270; if from the latter, keep the bowels 
acting daily and flap up cold water against the parts three, min¬ 
utes, night and morning, but never .'touch them in any way to 
relieve the itching, as it causes soreness and troublesome abrasions. 

ASTHMA SPASMODIC, • • * 

• • 

m 

often follows the use;of flax seed poultices, and so does the hand-, 
ling of powdered ipecac, which also causes symptoms of Catarrh. 
Marked relief is often given in Asthma by taking, every hour or 
two, until relieved, a tea-spoonful of the following mixture: One 
and a half ounces of sulphuric ether, tincture of lobelia one ounce, 
tincture of stramonium or thorn apple four drams, and tincture 

t 

of opium or laudanum four drams. 


784 HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 

e , " ' • ... 

HEMORRHAGIC BOWELS, TYPHOID. 

* • * 

Give from twenty to sixty drops of oil of turpentine, hourly, 
until relieved. 

SMALL POX. 

' • . « * 

. Take twelve grains of sulphate of soda every three hours for a 

week ; to materially shorten the duration of • the disease, and 

o 

prevent pitting, add a few drops .of water to carbolic acid, 
to make it of syrup consistency; apply one drop of this to each 
pustule with a camel’s-hair pencil from the 7th to the 12th day; 
if it has become confluent, then wash the whole skin m the same 
way ; the pustules should turn black and fall off the third day, 
leaving no mark whatever. 

O 

. • 

. ERYSIPELAS. 

is prevented from spreading in the commencement of the disease, 

by painting the healthy skin outside of the diseased part for the 

space of two or three inches, with collodion; fill the cracks, if 
• ' 

any appear by painting them over with the preparation. 

* * • 

, 9 , 

PROSTRATION 

„ o . 

of a very distressing kind sometimes follows a long sickness, or 
severe labor of body or mind ;* it is a result, also, of various 
typhoid ailments and. other' low fevers; a good, remedy is one 
dram of carbonate of ammonia, three ounces of gum arabic 
• mucilage, and four- ounces of water; take one table-spoonful 
every hour or two as occasion may require. 

. * • . • 

PNEUMONIA 

. • * * 4 • „ 

• • • • • • 

is an inflammation of the substance of the lungs, coming on with 
.a chill, then fever ; the skin is hot and dry, the pulse a hundred 
or over, pains about the chest increased by laying, on the side; 
there is a constant dry, short cough; in addition to these* there 
is oppression at the top of the breast bone, a reddish expectora¬ 
tion, like brick dust, although this may not appear until the sec¬ 
ond or third day ; the phlegm is so tenacious, that if it were to 
fall on the bottom of a vessel it would not fall out if it. were 
turned upside down. When these symptoms appear and a ther¬ 
mometer in the armpit rises towards a hundred and five degrees 


PNEUMONIA. 


785 


or over^ the case should be regarded as a dangerous attack of 
Pneumonia or Lung Fever, which will, in all probability, prove fatal 
within a week if not promptly met with appropriate remedies ; 
not a moment’s time should be lost in using expectorants in 
steaming, or other mere experiments. The first best remedy, in 
most cases, is to place the patient in a sitting position in bed and 
cause blood to flow from the arm until fainting is almost induced ; 
but there is such a general prejudice against blood letting and 
such a little appreciation of the dangerous character of the disease, 
that few are willing to adopt the remedy. 

The next best treatment is to put a large blister plaster, eight 
inches by four, along the space between the shoulder blades behind; 
if tliQ case is not very urgent, this also may be omitted ; small 
blisters are ineffectual and irritate. Next to a beginning with 
bleeding or blister plasters, the most efficient treatment is to 
unload the bowels by an enema, or by taking two or three table¬ 
spoonfuls of castor oil or salts, and repeat every two hours until 
there is an operation, but without waiting for that, take within 
an hour, one or two liver pills and wrap up warm in bed. Within 
two hours there will be more or less relief, which becomes more de¬ 
cided as time passes. As soon as the bowels begin to act freely by 
the pills, the feeling of relief will be regarded with surprise and 
gratification. During all this time, nothing must be taken but warm 
toast-water or barley-water, or whey may be drank. The after 
treatment in all cases must be the same. The room should be kept 
at a temperature not lower than sixty-five degrees, and as much 
higher as will enable the . patient to feel comfortably warm ; a feel¬ 
ing of chilliness should not be allowed for an instant, and 
by no means leave the room until the appetite is fully restored 
and then go cautiously out of doors in such a way as to avoid 
fatigue and the slightest chilliness. Fatal relapses often take place 
from going out of doors too soon. 

When the cough is tight, take the tincture of Ipecac or the 
compound syrup of squills to the extent of loosening the phlegm, 
but not to vomit, nor within an hour of eating. 

The diet should consist of • light food, soups, and teas with bread 
broken in, taken at five hours interval. Grapes may be freely 
eaten in the forenoon and afternoon, and as 0 tlie. appetite and 
strength increase, lean meat may be gradually added. 

If the pulse continues over eighty, bring it down to sixty and 
50 


786 


HALLS FAMILY DOCTOR. 


not let it rise above seventy by taking, every three hours, from 
five to ten drops of the tincture of aconite or the tincture of vera- 
trum viride or poke root, in half a table-spoonful of water; or 
take one-sixtli of a grain of tartar emetic in a table-spoonful of 
water, every two hours ; such a treatment promptly given will 
seldom fail of a speedy cure of this dangerous malady, sometimes 
called Lung Fever, so dangerous, that with the best treatment, the 
patient recovers very slowly, in the course of months, and for a 
long time after, is very liable to attack, from very slight causes. 

Pneumonia is a disease which lays the most robust in the grave 
within a week, and which has numbered among its victims some 
of the greatest and best and most eminent men of modern times, 
especially public men, generals, senators, and clergymen; hence, 
its symptoms, its nature, its dangerous character, and its speedy 
and efficacious treatment, ought to be thoroughly understood by 
the people generally. Promptitude is vital, and in nine cases 
out of ten, makes all the difference between a speedy convales¬ 
cence and months of sickness, or between recovery and the grave 
within a week. The great fatality of the disease, arises from the 
fact of its slow development, in many cases; the very best phy¬ 
sicians hope and hesitate, and while they are waiting for convinc¬ 
ing proof that it is a true case of inflammation of the lungs, 
the critical time lias passed for saving life. The clear, sharp 
rule should be, if a person, from a bad cold, or from any other cause, 
has a sense of oppression at the top of the breast bone, with a fre¬ 
quent hacking or short cough, and more or less of pain any where, 
especially if the pulse beats over ninety times in a minute, and a 
thermometer in the arm pits rises from its natural state of ninety- 
eight degrees Fahrenheit, to a hundred and five or six or more, it 
should be set down as a case of inflammation of the lungs. It 
will simply amaze and delight an intelligent observer to contem¬ 
plate the speedy, general, and complete relief which will uniform¬ 
ly follow a prompt unloading of the lower bowels by an injection 
of a pint or more of water warm or tepid, or instead, by giving 
two table-spoons of castor oil or common salts, and within an 
hour or two administering one or two of the liver pills, according 
to the violence of the symptoms; let the patient keep warm in 
bed and promote perspiration by hot drinks; keep the arms un¬ 
der the bed clothes, which should, come up to the chin, and 
include the shoulders. By such a treatment, the patient will be 


PNEUMONIA. 


787 


cured within eighteen hours, and all that will he required after that 
is good nursing; by which is meant taking the food and drink 
already named, and remaining in a warm room for a week-after¬ 
wards, until the appetite becomes vigorous, then gradually accus¬ 
tom the patient to out-door air and exercise, avoiding with the 
greatest possible care two things, chilliness and fatigue. In 
Pneumonia there is a constant fever which rapidly wastes the 
strength of the system, endangering the complication of typhoid- 
pneumonia, to prevent which, the pulse should be kept down.to 
sixty beats in a minute by giving from five to ten drops of the 
tincture of arnica every three hours at any stage of the disease. 
The general reader may think that too much space has been given 
to Pneumonia, but if he ever has the disease, or sees any one dear 
to him suffering from it, he will have a different opinion. 

A BAD COLD 

is simply a mild form of Pneumonia, for it is an inflammation of 
the breathing organs, from the tip of the nose up through the 
head, down along the windpipe to the little hollow at the bottom 
of the neck, extending to the branches of the windpipe, &c., to 
the very bottom of the lungs ; all these parts are too hot; . have 
too much blood in them, more than is natural, hence the lungs 
are preoccupied and air enough cannot get in to supply the wants 
of the system, causing the patient to complain of oppression, of a 
want of breath, expressing himself as being all “stuffed up,” lie 
feels dull and stupid and restless. 

In such cases the body is too. full, and nature seeks to relieve 
herself by diminishing the amount of the fluids of the system, the 
eyes water, there is an increased discharge from the nose and a 
direct attempt to relieve the lungs themselves by exciting a cough, 
or hawking and expectoration of a heavy yellowish substance 
with which all are familiar. 

What is about to be said, in conjunction with the statements 
made relative to Pneumonia, will be worth ten' times the value of 
this book* to every family, to every individual, old or young, even 
if the money had to be earned by working for ten cents a day, 
“board and lodging included,” because 

COLDS ARE TAKEN 

during the whole course of life, and in a great many cases they 
are the agencies which kindle into fatal activity a variety of forms 


788 


HALL'S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


of disease. All invalids liave noticed, and will notice to the end 
of time, that a cold makes them worse, always aggravates the 
malady under which the body already labors. If a person suffer¬ 
ing from a cold feels stuffed up, oppressed, too full, and nature, in 
the ways above described, endeavors to unload the body of its 
surplus, common sense dictates the propriety of helping nature to 
get rid of the oppressing and depressing surplus. Yet, with in 
comprehensible perversity, the people begin, forthwith, to work 
against nature by more “stuffing” ; by eating, even when instinct 
takes away the appetite, under the delusive plea, that if they do 
not eat they will get weak, and will soon be confined to the bed. 
But as it is a very uncomfortable operation to eat without an ap¬ 
petite, some resort to tonics and bitters and brandy to 

GET UP AN APPETITE. 

But not content with this outrage against nature, another form 
of warring against her is, as soon as there is a cough, which is 
her method of helping us to get rid of the matters which are in 
the lungs, and so fill them up that breath enough cannot get in, 
medicines are resorted to which are said to be 

GOOD FOR A CODGH, 

¥» • 

meaning thereby that they cure the cough, cause it to cease and 
disappear ; and that medicine works with a charm which is the 
greater in proportion to the promptitude with which it acts in the 
direction of causing the cough to disappear, as far as the lungs are 
concerned in young children, to take refuge in the head, causing 
convulsions and water on the brain ; in older persons, the cough 
ceases, the lungs become more oppressed, and pneumonia or heart 
disease, or other more critical malady takes the place of the 
cough. 

In every decided cold, three things are always to be considered. 

First.—Nature takes away the appetite ; then eat nothing, not 
an atom ; drink nothing, not a drop. You are too full already, 
and nature is using all her efforts to unload the system as a means 
of relief, and every atom, every drop requires that much more 
strength to convey it out of the body, thus imposing more work, 
thus hindering instead of aiding. 

Second.—In all colds there is a chilliness; instinct prompts to 


PNEUMONIA. 


789 


get warm; we almost get into the fire ; while we are warming one 
side, the other gets chilly. Chilliness is the stagnation of the 
blood; there is no animation, no activity, no clieeriness. But all 
know that warmth- promotes the circulation ; instinct urges us to 
procure that necessary warming ; hence a person suffering with a 
cold should occupy a room comfortably warm to him, even if it 
requires a heat of over a hundred degrees. Ordinarily, in fire- 
time of year, it is warm enough if the thermometer marks sev¬ 
enty degrees, five feet from the floor, near the window. But the 
patient must not decide from figures; he must be guided by 
principle, not by numbers, or by the experience of others; the 
room must be comfortably warm to him ; and in that warm room 
he must remain, and never go outside of the door, until he be¬ 
comes hungry, feels strong, with a pulse not over seventy-five a 
minute ; then he may resume his ordinary occupation by degrees, 
guarding most of all against chilliness and over-fatigue or'over¬ 
work as in Pneumonia. 

Third.—As nature, in all cases, attempts to cure the system of 
a cold by unloading it of the surplus which oppresses it, we can 
greatly aid her in this operation by first taking an injection, which 
will remove a pound or two from the body in a few moments; 
or by swallowing one or two table-spoonfuls of castor oil, or epsom 
salts, dissolved in a glass of warm water; there will be a more 
efficient action than from an injection, requiring, however, a 
longer time, an hour or two or more. All that is now necessary 
to be done is to keep comfortably warm in bed in a warm room, 
with a pure air ; if perspiration is induced by drinking hot water or 
hot teas of any kind, the cure will be hastened and will be more 
complete* Follow the instructions for convalescence which were 
recommended in getting well of Pneumonia, in reference to 
warmth, eating, drinking, and exercise. All observant persons 
know how easy it is to renew a cold ; so easy sometimes, that it 
is almost impossible not to think that it comes of itself. In all 
cases, the renewal is owing to a slight chilliness attacking some 
part of the body in going out into the cold air, before the gloves 
are drawn over the hands ; very many persons wait until they get 
out of the door before they begin to draw on their gloves, hence 
the fingers become cold before it is accomplished; at other times 
you stand on the door stone in thin slippers, or without a hat, 01 
talk a moment to a parting visitor with the door partly open; or 


790 


UALL’S FAMILY DOCTOR 


you undress or rise in a cold room ; or you fail to get into bed 
without a slight chilliness running over you; or the feet may get 
a little damp or cold ; in short, any chilly or cold sensation to any 
small portion of the body, is capable of renewing a cold, when 
there is one already present; hence, the necessity has been insist¬ 
ed on, of every person who has a cold, keeping himself comfort¬ 
ably warm for every instant of time until his cold is cured. A 
young gentleman came home the other evening with a very severe 
cold ; some one advised him to steam himself by breathing the 
vapor of hot water ; he did so, went to bed, and arose next morn¬ 
ing feeling almost entirely well; he was perfectly delighted, and 
so were his friends, at the good effects of so simple a remedy. 
He went down town to his business after breakfast, returning in 
the eve’ning, feeling that he had increased his cold ; he became 
very ill during the night, has been very low, and for days together 
life lias been despaired of by all the attending physicians ; the 
lesson is, do not be in a hurry to get out of doors when you have 
a cold. An idea is repeated here with great emphasis, in the be¬ 
lief that it is of incalculable importance to every reader. If a 
cold .is attacked as above within twenty-four or thirty-six hours 
after it has been taken, it will be cut short and perfectly cured in 
a day ; but if it is neglected for several days, nothing will cure 
it; it will hang on and run its course of .two or three weeks, as 
measles will run its course, and wear itself out. 

If nothing is done for a cold for several days after it has been 
taken, resort should be had to one or two of the liver pills, instead 
of salts or oil. No one should ever forget to notice what gives a 
cold'; then carefully avoid it. Different persons are susceptible 
to cold from different causes, and each one should observe for 
himself what gives him a cold, and act accordingly, for it is im¬ 
possible for a cold to occur without a cause, and it is as unreas¬ 
onable to expect the finger should not be burned by putting it in 
the fire, as for a person to escape a cold if he exposes himself to 
those causes wuich give him a cold. A miracle will never be 
worked; the operations of nature will never be suspended to save 
even an angel from the infraction of a law of nature; and yet 
many have some indistinct impression that they will escape or be 
protected in some way, especially if in the performance of some 
good work. The great and good John Howard, of immortal mem¬ 
ory, lost his life by an unauthorized exposure in visiting a young 


COLDS. 


701 


lady who was suffering from the plague and of which she died. 
Our wisdom lies in noticing what causes disease and then scrupu¬ 
lously guard against such causes ever after. It is better to store the 
memory with items of knowledge which will preserve the health, 
than to be satisfied with possessing a remedy which will cure dis¬ 
ease. There are persons who are careless of getting sick, because 
they think they have at hand an infallible remedy, hence do not 
take the same pains to use means for the preservation of their 
health, which they would otherwise do. Attention to this point 
as a matter of principle, in reference to the avoidance of colds, 
will prevent an incalculable amount of sickness and suffering. 
Many persons have noticed if while laboring under a cold, there is 
an attack of diarrhoea or loose bowels there is an immediate 
abatement of all the symptoms of the cold, and the diarrhoea is 
said to “carry off” the cold; this fact having been noticed by the 
common people, they very naturally concluded that if the sponta¬ 
neous intervention of a diarrhoea cured a cold, the artificial pro¬ 
duction of diarrhoea wall also cure a cold, hence resort is had to 
castor oil, salts, and other purgatives. A gentlemen took some 
pills the other day with this end in view, they acted well and all 
the symptoms of the cold were abating, and wishing to expedite 
matters, he kept taking the pills every day, not observing that he 
was getting weaker with the result, that the’ increasing debility 
arising from continued purgation allowed the system to fall into a 
typhoid condition and he died, showing that while one or two 
free actions of the bowels are beneficial in colds, continued loose¬ 
ness day after day is injurious, and even dangerous. 

Some persons are constantly taking little colds but are not 
aware of it, because they think that if they had a cold, there 
would be more or less of cough ; that would be the case if the cold 
fell on the lungs, but it does not always do so, only when the lungs 
are the weak point of the system; but if they are healthy and 
strong and the person is suffering from any ailment in another 
part of the system, that part is the w r eaker point, the cold settles 
there, aggravates the trouble, while the lungs are not affected by 
it at all. Thus a person may keep up a malady, for an indefinite 
time by a constant succession of little colds, without the patient 
knowing anything about it, hence the importance of guarding 
against taking fresh colds in all'forms of sickness, by studiously 


792 


HALL’S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


avoiding all tlie causes of cold, and tlie best way is to use all the 
means possible and necessary to keep the body continuously warm. 

Let it be remembered that most colds can be cured by warmth 
.and abstinence from all food for a day or two, without any medi¬ 
cine whatever; it is only in the severer forms that enemas and 
medicines are necessary. Whenever a person is suffering from 
any disease and any symptom gets worse, he may conclude he lias 
renewed his cold or the bowels have become costive. 

If anything is needed to impress on the reader’s mind the im¬ 
portance of remaining in doors, while suffering from a cold, espe¬ 
cially’the old and frail and feeble, it is the fact, that the immedi¬ 
ate cause of the death of one of the most distinguished men in 
the nation’s history, William H. Seward, was the renewal of a 
cold by taking a two hour’s drive. ' The weather was not 
cold, but he was feeble and returned home thoroughly chilled, and 
died in a few days. 

- vyitrsi - 


MORAL CHARACTER TRANSMITTED. 

Hereditary influence on page 622 finds confirmation in the fol¬ 
lowing narrations of the Rev. William Fulton : 

“ Some years ago, a young man in the town of N--, in 

Prussia, indulged in mocking the little singing birds of the forests, 
and wherever he succeeded in catching one, he cut out its tongue ! 
By and by he got married, and in the course of time had seven 
children born to him, all of whom came into this world without 
tongues to speak ! This can be certified by a person from the 
town of N-, now living in my own family.” 

‘‘Among the people with whom I worshiped in earlier years, 
there was a gay young man, the most prominent trait in whose 
character was that of scoffing ; he married, and his wife it seems 
caught the moral contagion. In their eyes every body was slight¬ 
ed ; every child was defective ; every beggar was taunted ; every 
lady was gibed, and every gentleman jeered at. This pair of 
scoffers had nine or ten children born to them ; but every child 
was deformed ! Some of them so much so as to demand surgical 
operations.” 






MORAL CHARACTER TRANSMITTED. 79.3 

* . • _ % 

The physical constitution of the child is to a certain extent 

molded by the mother’s habits during gestation. The first 
teetotal temperance preacher was an Angel, who enjoined upon 
a woman, that until the child was born there should he an entire 
abstinence from all that could intoxicate, and also that she should 
not eat any “unclean” (unhealthy) food. The woman was faith¬ 
ful to the injunction, a son was born to her three thousand years 
ago, Sampson, one. of the judges of Israel. Manoah’s wife had 
never had a child ; the father wanted to know what was the nature 
of the work which the child would be expected to perform; and 
in answer to the question, how the child should be ordered, what 
should be done, which would be best calculated to fit him for his 
life’s work, the reply was as above stated, showing, at that early 
time in the world’s history, that there was an adaptation of means 
to an end ; that the avoidance of injurious drinks and eating 
healthful food, would be the means of securing the birth of a 
strong, healthy child. The principle cannot be less true now, than 
in the earlier ages of the world. I 11 connection with the habits 
during gestation, there is a practical question which comes before 
all intelligent married persons ; ouglit there to be marital indul¬ 
gence during gestation and nursing? There ought to be, to the 
fullest extent required by maternal instincts ; because the parts 
connected with reproduction are in a state, of extraordinary excite¬ 
ment, and if not appeased, precisely as in hunger, the mind is 
physically compelled to dwell on the sensation until it is satisfied ; 
and if any other appetite calls for appeasement, the result is the 
same. If the mind is dwelling upon the subject and instinct 
remorselessly calls for appeasement, the being to be born will 
have these same yearnings, with just as much uniformity as the 
child born to a drunken parent will inherit the propensity for 
drink. As it has been asserted with extraordinary positiveness that 
indulgence during the time thus referred to is a fruitful cause of 
scrofula, without any even plausible, proof, readers must decide 
for themselves, as there is not space for argument here ; this may 
be done in the light of a single question, “Is it not better to grat¬ 
ify the tastes, appetites, and inclinations of the mother that is to 
be, than to oppose them, when they 'are known to be natural, not 
artificial ?” There must be health and happiness in the tempera te 
gratification of the natural appetites, as there is health and hap- 


T 94 


HALL’S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


piness in tlie temperate use of all the good things of this life 
which the Almighty One has given us “richly to enjoy.” 

. In 1840 the very eminent Dr. Comb published a work on 
“Infancy” in which he gives many cases proving that mental and 
physical impressions were made on the unborn child as the result 
of the mental states of the mother during gestation. William 
Hunter, the greatest medical philosopher of his age and nation, 
advocates the same doctrine ; hence the physician should frankly 
inform the pregnant woman that the physical constitution of the 
child, and to a great extent its moral character, very much depend 
on herself, and that it is her highest duty to act accordingly 
during the. whole time of gestation. Dr. Hunter believed that 
from the first hour of conception to the consummation of the 
birth, the states of mind and body and heart of the woman were con¬ 
stantly molding those of the child ; such being the case, we ought 
as true benefactors of the race do what in us lies, to make that 
mold as near perfection as possible and thus give a happy direc¬ 
tion to the tastes, habits, feelings, and inclination, that the bent 
of them may be in the right direction from the first, then it will 
prove emphatically true that “as the twig is bent, the tree’s 
inclined.” Thoughts like these will excite peculiar interest 
during the whole of gestation and make the term of it a period* 
of absorbing consideration. Dr. Williamson of Cincinnati thus 
writes in a Medical Journal for February, 1870: 

“ Mrs. B-, of Virginia, an excellent lady, of fine cultivation, 

the wife of a tradesman, became enciente; this so enraged the 
husband that, during her entire term of pregnancy, he treated her 
with great brutality, forced her to take emmenagogues with the 
view of destroying the embryo, but all to no purpose, and in due 
season she gave birth to a fine male child. When the boy was old 
enough to distinguish one person from another, he became afraid 
of his father, and nothing could appease his fear. As he grew 
older his fear turned to hatred. The once brutal husband was now 
a devoted father, and loved his promising son with great affection, 
but he was at last compelled to send him from home to school, 
from which he never returned during the lifetime of his father. 
For fifteen long years they never saw each other. About three years 
ago the father died, while the son, a noble young man, now stands 
high as a jurist in his native state. He deplored his unnatural 



THE FAMILY MEDICINE CHEST. 


795 


feeling, and often declared, with tears, that lie could not tell why 
it was so.” 

The growing and burning affection of the mother may stamp the 
image pf the idol of her heart upon the foetus in utero. 

“ Mr. W-, my uncle, once employed a Miss Hoffman as 

teacher in his family. Her powers of mind, virtues of heart, and 
charms of person could not be excelled. Her right inferior*ex¬ 
tremity, however, was some three or four inches shorter than her 
left. She-had a lustrous brown, and a laughing blue eye. Mrs. 
W— —, who is one of the kindest and most affectionate of women, 

formed an attachment for Miss H-, which was, perhaps, as 

holy as that which bound Damon and Pythias together. Becom¬ 
ing enciente , she gave birth to a female child, whose right leg, like 

that of Miss II-, was three or four inches shorter than her 

left, and one eye is brown while the other is blue. The girl is 

now grown, and could hardly be distinguished from Miss II-, 

were they both of the same age.” 

“ The mother’s mind, through sympathy, pleasure, or hatred, 
may bear with such power upon the nerves of sensibility, as to 
entirely transform the perfect human form of the embryo into 
that of the lower order of animals, and instead of a perfect child 
being born to gladden the mother’s heart, she becomes the wretch¬ 
ed parent of a human monster. These facts should not be over¬ 
looked by the mother, as the observance of them is a duty which 
she owes alike to herself as well as to the well-being of her 
children.” 

-vy:- 


THE FAMILY MEDICINE CHEST. 

4 • 

In every household there should be a family medicine chest, mr 
in every household there will be more or less midnight sickness of 
sudden attacks of illness, of accident, and death, and to be able 
to do something promptly, although a physician may be within 
ten minutes call, sometimes makes all the difference between a 
life saved and a life lost; but especially is it needlul for every 
family in the country and at the farm house, where a physician 
may not be had for hours, to have some few remedies at hand 
which may meet ordinary emergencies. Under the head of the 
articles named, will be found the uses which may be made of them, 
and the manner of their employment. 









796 


HALL’S FAMILY DOCTOR. 


1. Half pound of ground mustard in an unopened box. 

2. A self-injecting apparatus. 

. 3. One dozen liver pills. 

4. Two dozen dinner pills. 

5. Half a pint eacli of castor oil, tincture of arnica, tincture 
of veratrum viride, tincture of camphor, tincture of hartshorn, 
and chloroform liniment. 

6 . Two ounces each of the tincture of opium and ipecac. 

7. One box of pain extractor. 

There is scarcely any form of suffering arising from disease 
which may not be relieved, modified, or cured by the judicious use 
of one or more of the remedies named; the main object however 
is to abate bodily pain, and to soothe and quiet the mind until the 
doctor comes. 

The reader is requested to bear in mind two things in reference 
to all statements made in this book which is here brought to 
a close: 

First.—There are exceptional cases to the statements made, 
whether of principle or fact, of theory or practice ; it was intended 
to say what was generally, uniformly true. 

Second.—Numerous remedies are given for some of the more 
common ailments because in different and distant localities, one or 
more of them cannot be had; then again a person cannot tolerate 
some particular medicine, but can readily take another ; besides 
most remedies lose their power in time, then another must be 
employed which is similar, then after a while the first can be 
returned to with advantage. 

Third.—In all cases of sickness procure the services of a prac¬ 
ticing physician if you can, for it wall take a load of responsibility 
from your own mind, and will save that painful groping in the 
dark which is inseparable from the administration of medicine on 
your own judgment. The strictly medical part of the work is for 
the emergencies of*sickness and accident which may occur at mid¬ 
night, or in most inclement weather, or in remote places where 
there is neither drug nor doctor-; meanwhile, in all forms of sick¬ 
ness whether moderate or severe, 

Keep quiet. Keep warm. Keep clean. 

Keep up a free exposure to a pure atmosphere and the life- 
giving sunshine. . W. W. Hall, M. D., 

New York. 


INDEX. 


A 

Abbreviations, 726. 

Abdomen, 179. 

bandage, 78. 
Abortion, 585. 

Abrasions, 384. 

Abscesses, 301. 

Absinthe, 138. 

Absorption, 138, 420. 

Abstinence, 427. 

Acacia, 458. 

Acarus, 418. 

Accidents, 150, 240. 

Acidity, 135, 309. 

Acne, 230. 408. • 

Aconite, 300. 

Acute, 48. 

Addison's disease, 143, 291. 
Adipocire, 415. 

Adipose tissue,'415. 
Adventitious, 415. 

Ague, 30, 109. 

cake, 115, 191. 

Air, 154. 

Alimentary canal, 187, 191. 
Allopathic prescriptions, 759. 
Aloes tincture, 170. 

Alteratives, 148. 

Amaurosis, 147. 252. 
Amenorrhcea, 579, 727. 
Ammonia. 432, 

Anaemia, 457, 727. 

Anaesthesia, 250. 

Aneurism, 153. 

Angina, 142. 728. 

Anodyne, 339. 

Anorexia, 194. 

Antibilious, see Biliousness. 
Antiphlogistic, 148. 

Anus, 189, 411. 

Aorta, - 152. 

Aphonia, 143. 

Appetite, 193, 557. 

Appetizers. 198. 

Apoplexy, 24, 84. 

Army itch, 422. 

Arnica, 149. 

Asphyxia, 208. 

Asthma, 201, 353, 728, 764, 774. 
Atrophy, 155. 

Auscultation, 135.. 

Avoidable diseases, 414. 

es 

Bad blood, 51. 

Bad breath, 401. 

Bad colds, 235, 651. 

Bad taste, 39. 

Baldness, 314, 730, 703. 

Baths and bathing, 69, 769. 
Barometer, 334. 

Beard, 318. 

Bed-chamber, 163, 418. 

Beef tea, 773. 

Bilious colic, 691, 770. 
Biliousness, 115, 402, 729, 764, 
772. 

Bilious symptoms, 29, 45, 206 
Birth, 542. . 

Bismuth, 383. 

Bites and stings, 214, 433. 


Bitters, 198. 

Bladder, 181, 730. 

Bleeding wounds, 159, 773. 
Bowels wounded, 497. 

Brain, 100, 174, 545, 767. 

Bread, 653. 

Breasts, 514. 

Bright's disease, 491, 712, 769. 

Broken bones, 87. 

. Bronchocele, 244. 

Bronchitis, 50, 436, 728. 

Bruises, 105. 

Bunions, 243. 

Burns and scalds, 239, 772. 
Burying alive, 231. 

Business failures, 364. 

Busy be, 15. 


C 

Cachexia, 291. 

Calomel, 30. 

Cancer, 12, 391, 639, 732. 
Canker, 748. 

Carbolic acid, 168. 

Carbuncle, 239. 

Castor oil, 237, 499, 763. 

Catarrh, 50, 690, 734, 767, 770. 
Cathartic pills, 34, 735. 
Changing clothing. 204, 051. 
Charcoal powder, 312. 

Checking perspiration, 121. 
Child-bearing, 515, 

Child Murder, 590. 

Children's eyes, 252. 

eating, 048. 
feeble, 643. 
home, 647. 
idle, 464. 
schooling, 632. 
town, 644. 

Chilblains, 241, 254. 

Chill and fever, 342. 

Chimney on fire, 400. 

Chloral hydrate, 339, 772. 
Chloroform, 257. 

Chlorosis, 291, 730. 

Choking, 301. 

Cholera, 23. 37, 704, 774. 

Cholera morbus, 732, 774, 
Chorea, 730. 

Cleanliness, 479, 030. 

Clothing changing, 264. 
Coagulation, 108. 

Coal fires, 335. 

Caecum, 410. 

Coffee, 344. 

Cold cream. 496. 

Colds, 67, 683. 

Cold feet.' 40, 679. 

Colic, 731. 

• Colustrum, 4S2. 

Complaining, 337. 

Compresses, 80, 294. 
Confinement, 511, 516. 
Congestion, 21, 09, 213. 286, 298. 
Constipation, 50, 190, 291. 
Consummation, 508, 592. 
Consumption, 25, 220, 353, 730. 
Corns, 242. 

Costiveness, 189, 049, 685, 771. 


Coughs and colds, 683, 733, 764, 

773. 

Cracked wheat, 291, 659. 

Critical ages, 631. 

Croup, 50, 04, 717, 734, 766, 768, 

774. 

Cultivating flowers. 461. 


Dandruff, 764. 

Daughters trained, 633. 
Deafness, 767. 

Death-rate, 217, .228. 

Death’s hour, 387. 

Debility, 727. 

Defecation, 411. 

Delirium tremens, 692, 738. 
Derivation, 20. 

Diabetes, 183, 292, 486. 
Diarrhoea, 24, 43, 681, 704, 737, 
763. 

Dieting, IQ. 

Dinner pill, 499. 

Diphtheria, 367, 738, 768, 774. 
Disease a unit, 50. 

Disinfectants, 479. 

Dislocations, 94. 

Domestic troubles, 562. 

Draining, 171. 

Dress in pregnancy, 524. 

Dropsy, 735. 

Drowning, 265. 

Drunkenness, 194, 357, 625. 

Dry births, 510. 

Dying from home, 262. 
Dysentery, 24, 64, 110, 671, 737, 
774. 

Dysmenorrhoea, 581, 738, 773. 
Dyspepsia, 408, 735, 772. 


E 

Eating, 2S9, 309, 648. 
Eczema, 739. 

Ear-ache, 739, 707. 
Education, 621. 

of children, 634. 
Effusion, 160. 

Emaciation, 739. 
Emollients, 739. 

Enema, 77, 190. 

Epilepsy, 738, 773. 

Errors in eating. 407. 
Eruptions, 294, 739, 484. 
Erythema, 739. 

Ether discovered,' 257. * 
Erysipelas, 662. 

Exercise, 19, 280, 441, 460. 
Eye, 39, 80, 250, 676, 764. 
Eyelids, 739. 

Eye-water, 739. 


F 

Face handsome, 416. 
Failure in business, 364. 
Fainting, 163. 

False alarms, 510. 
Favus, 740. 






793 


INDEX. 


Feet, 831, 434, 439, 680, 770. 
Fever and ague. 36, 46, 109, 114, 
342, 740, 745, 766, 769. 
Fevers, 43, 663, 739. 

Figs, 190. 

Fingers, 360, 471. 

Fire escape, 400. 

Flatulence, 735. 

Flooding, 512. 

Flowers cultivated, 461. 
Fomentations, 75, 478. 

Food digestibility, 405, 486, 776. 
Freckles, 764, 766. 

Frenzy, 474. 

Frost-bite, 253, 773. 

Fruit diet, 233, 279, 386, 531. 


G 

Gall bladder, 1S8, 345. 

Gargles, 741. 

Garlic, 765. 

Gastralgia, 740. 

General health, 67, 273. 
Gestation, 223, 507. 

Getting up, 595. 

Girls, 646. 

at home, 647. 
eating, 648. 
trained, 646. 

Glandular swellings, 140, 285. 
Gleet, 764. 

Gluten, 533. 

Gout, 728, 741. 

Gravel, 741. 

Grease spots, 435. 

Great cure-all, 282. 

Griping, 608. 

Gonorrhoea, 706, 70S, 710, 741, 
764. 

Gutta serena, 147. 

Gum ammonia}, 438. 


II 

Haemorrhages, 292, 741, 744, 773. 
Hand, 469. 

Hair, 316, 371, 435. 

Handsome face, 416. 

Hartshorn, 432. 

Haste hurtful. 175. 

Hay asthma, 208. 

Headache, 40, 668, 742. 

Head sores, 772. 

Health, 15, 273. • 

Heart burn, 312, 771. 
enlarged. 

Hearty suppers, 344. 

Hereditary influences, 623. 
Hernia, 177. 

Hiccough, 182. 

Hip-joint, 96. 

Hoarseness, 144, 675, 766. 
Homoeopathic principles, 8. 
Hooping-cough, 765. 

Hour of death, 387. 

Household duties, 642. 
Housekeeping. 615. 

House poison, 271. 

House warming, 355. 

Hurry unhealthful, 175, 362. 
Husbands, 178, 536. 
Hydrophobia, 215. 

Hygiene, 155. 

Hysteria, 743. 


I 

Idiosyncrasy, 40. 


Indigestion, see Dyspepsia. 

Indulgence marital, 562, 576. 

588. 

Infanticide, 590. 

Infant's birth, 480, 542, 546. 
diseases, 608. 
dress, 549. 
feeble, 477. 
feeding, 605. 
mothers, 488. 
naps, 557. 

. nursing, 603. 

sleep, 553. 
washing, 629. 

Influenza, 690, 746. 

Inflammation lungs, 23. 

Inflammation, 286, 302, 436. 

Injections, 77. 

Impotence, 745. 

Impregnation, 508. 

Interested exercise, 441. 

Intermittent fever, 745. 

Insanity, 352, 626. 

Ivy poison, 500. 

Ipecac tincture, 433. 

Itch, 224, 418, 422, 46S, 494, 745. 


K 

Kerosene accidents, 156, 263,763. 
Knee-pan, 94. 

Kneading liver, 193. 


L 

Lacteal s, 138. 

Ladies 1 hair, 371. 

Lady Webster’s pills, 500. 
Laryngitis, 50, 767. 
Laughter, 210. 

Laxatives. 498. 

Leprosy, 506. 

Leucorrhoea, 77, 582, 746. 
Leucothemia, 292. 

Lice, 746. 

Life’s periods, 631. 

Light food, 105. 

suppers, 649. 

Liniment, 297, 747, 772, 775. 
Literary husbands, 178. 
Liver, 345. 

Liver abscess, 306. 

Liver pill, 35, 41, 234. 
Living together, 388. 

Lochial discharge. 597. 
Lock-jaw, 187, 255. 
Longevity, 390. 

Longings, 418. 

Loose bowels, 43. 748. 
Lumbago, 707, 711, 773. 
Lungs, 714. 

Lymphatics, 139. 


M 

Mad stone, 217. 

Malignant pustule, 673. 
Marriage, 225, 478, 520. 

Marital rights, 508, 592. 
Maternity, 503. 

Measles, 428, 764. 

Meconium, 482. 

Medical prescriptions. 727. 

principles, 16, 282, 298. 
Melansemia, 292. 

Menorrhagia, 581. 

Menses, 582. 

Miasm, 110, 124, 172. 
Microscope, 463. 


Milk a medicine, 704, 775. 
Milk fever, 514. 

Milk leg, 597. 

Month malign. 170. 
Morniny sickness, 224, 774. 
Mothers. 229, 488. (512. 
Mother’s mark, 196, 
milk, 613. 

Morbid appetite, 194. 
Mountain tea, 11. 

Mouth canker, 748. 
Movement cure, 174. 

Moxa. 159. 

Mucous diseases, 292. 
Mumps, 612. 

Muscular exercise, 20. • 
Mustard paste, 297. 
Myalgia, 707. 

Mysterious influence, 164. 


N 

Nature a Doctor. 171, 287. 
Neck dislocated, 97. 
Nervous debility, 574. 
Neuralgia, 749, 768. 770. 
Nervous disease. 293. 

prostration, 488. 
persons, 15. 
Nibbling, 647. 

Nightmare, 180. 

Nipples, 598, 774. 

Nitrate of silver, 146. 
Nocturnals, 573, 636. 

Nose bleed. 232. 

drenchings, 348. 
Nursing, 48, 603, 613, 53. 


O 

Object teaching, 635. 
Ointments, 750. 

Oneness of disease, 41, 27, 234 
Ophthalmia, 710, 739. 
Otorrhoea (see Ear). 

Ozcena, 750. 


P 

Pain extractor, 496. 

Pain relieved, 17. 

Paint cleaned, 435. 

Pale face, 403. 

Palpitation, 742. 

Pancreas, 189. 

Paralysis, 752, 768. 

Parents, to, 473, 503. 
Parotid glands, 188. 
Pastries, 331. 

Patent medicines, 28, 258. 
Periosteum, 705. 
Pernicious fever, 740. 
Perpetuation, laws of, 505. 
Peritonaeum, 182. • 
Petroleum, 169. 

Phenate of soda, 169. 
Physiology, 497. 

Phlegm, 146, 683. 
Phlegmasia dolens. 597. 
Piles, 224, 752. 771, 774. 
Picking sores, 253. 

Pigs, happy, 381. 

Pimples. 764. 767. 
Pin-worms, 270, 759, 773. 
Pink root," 421. 

Pipsissewa, 11. 

Pestilence. 416. 

Plague, 416. 

Pleurisy, 283, 751. 






INDEX. 


799 


Pleurodynia, 707. 

Plica polonica. 486. 
Ploughing, primitive, 459. 
Pneumonia, 110, 751. 
Poisons, 693. 

Poison ivy, 500. 

Pores of skin, 439. 
Poultices, 295. 

Pregnancy, 223, 507. 523. 
Preliminaries, 10, 47. 
Premonitions, 173. 
Preventions, 246. 

Privies, 347. 

Psoriasis (see Itch), 773. 
Puberty, 635. 

Puerperal fever, 595. 
Pulse, 378. 

Pumpkin-seeds, 271, 
Purgatives, 27, 76. 


Q 

Queen Victoria. 504. 
Quickening, 509. 

Quinine mixture, 114, 763. 
Quinsy, 674. 


II 

Rain or shine, 769, 280. 

Rectum. 181, 1S9. 

Renal capsules, 143. 
Rheumatism, 704, 712, 752, 763, 
766, 768. 

Rice, 336. 

Rickets, 752. 

Ringworm. 772. 

Rupture, 177. 

Ruts of life, 174. 


Silver cleaned, 435. 

Sitting position, 456. 

Shoes, winter, 341. 
Skin-disease, 293, 439, 756. 
Sleep, 351, 553, 766. 
Sleeping-rooms, 440. 
Sleeplessness, 754. 
Sloughing, 166. 

Small-pox, 487. 

Snow, beautiful, 465. 

Snuff, 670. 

Soda dangers, 311. 

Sore nipples, 599. 

Sores, running, 303. 

scrofulous. 
Spamemise, 292, 

Special fruit diet, 289. 
Spectacles, 676. 

Spinal deformity, 472. 
Spitting blood, 211. 

Sprains, 78, 244. 
Stammering. 678. 

Starvation, 259. 

Steam bath, 79. 

Stimulants, 424. 

Stings, 434. 

Stomach, 410, 740. 

gout, 728. 
Strychnine, 477. 

Students’ dyspepsia, 409. 
Styptic, 754. 

Sublingual glands, 188. 
Summer complaint, 398, 732. 

excursions, 26i. 
Sunstroke, 396. 

Supper, 279. 

light. 344. 649. 
Sweat, taking a. 403. 

Sweet bread, 189. 

Swellings, 755. 

Syphilis, 292, 755. 758, 775. 

Synovial glands, 704. 


S 

St. Vitus' dance, 730, 770. 
Salivation, 119, 148. 

Scalds, 239. 

Scald head. 486. 

Scarlet fever, 430, 756. 
Scheele’s green, 273. 
Schooling children, 632. 
Sciatica, 707. 

Scrofulous, 723, 754. 

Scurvy, 292. 

Sea-bathing, 82. 

Secret vice, 637. 

September sickly, 170. 
Servants, 363. 

Shaving, 11, 494. 

Shirt collars, 415. 

Shoes, 341. 

Sick headache, 670, 755, 771. 
Sick-room, 163. 


T 

Tapeworm, 270, 420, 759. 
Teeth, 312, 338, 532, 610, 773. 
Teething, 601, 610. 
Temperate living, 233. 

Throat sore, 767, 769, 758. 
Thermometers, 334, 767. 
Tincture of ipecac, 438. 
Tinctures, 294. 

Toe-nail ingrowing, 764, 770. 
Tomatoes, 343. 

Tongue 39. 380. 

Tonics, 198. 756, 763. 

Trusses, 177. 

Tubercle, 25, 213, 292. 
Turkish baths, 254. 
Turpentine, 421, 712. 
Typhoid fever, 97, 740. 


U 

Ulcers, 308, 757. 
Uncertain remedies, 12. 
Uterine haemorrhage, 513. 
Urination, 224, 766. 


V 

Vaginal baths, 77. 
Varicose veins, 153. 
Vegetable poisons, 700. 
Velocity, 361. 

Ventilation, 162. 

Veratrum viride, 476. 
Vicious habits, 636 
Visiting cards poison, 415. 
Vomiting, 756. 

Voice lost, 143, 329, 766. 


W 

Walking, 404, 450. 
Warning. 173, 706. 

Washes, 757. 

Washing infants, 629. 
Washington’s wife, 645. 
Wasting, 759. 

Water bandage. 296. 

on brain, 24, 481. 
Wax kernels. 140. 
Weaning, 604. 
Wedding-day, 615. 

Wells, Horace, 256. 

Wet bandage, 78. 
jacket, 79. 
nurses, 606. 

Wheat, 654.- 

Whites .(see Leucorrhoea). 
White mustard seed. 190. 
Whooping-cough, 689. 
Windpipe, 50. 

Winter shoes, 341. 
Womanhood, 638. 

Worms, 269, 772. 
Wormwood, 138. 

Writing restored, 4G5, 435. 


Y 

Young men warned, 706. 
Yeast, good, 660. 

Yellow fever, 416. 

Yellow eyes, 39. 


Z 

Zymotic diseases, 244, 284. 




♦ 





✓ 









































DIXON’S PHILADELPHIA GRATE. WORKS. 

Fire on the Hearth, 

OR, LOW DOWN GRATES. 




A hard coal fire, burn¬ 
ing brightly, flat on th« 
hearth,'on a level with 
the floor, warming the 
feet delightfully, with an 
oval fire-place nearly 
three feet across, with no 
visible blower, ver-y little 
dust, and absolutely no 
gas, the ashes need re¬ 
moving but once a year, 
while by the extra heat, 
pure air direct from out 
doors is conveyed to an 
upper room, without the 
possibility of meeting 
with any red hot metallic 
surface, or with any cor¬ 
rupting surface wha'ever 
— it is simply pure air 
warmed. A Philadelphia 
correspondent says : “I 
have never known a day 
that a fire made in the 
|>M morning was not equal to 
^ the day, no matter what 
the temperature was out¬ 
side.” A gentleman writes 
from New England, after 
using the grate several 
years : “if there were no 
other grate to be had, a 
hundred times the price 
of it would not induce 
me to part with it.” One 
of these grates can be 
set in an ordinary fire-place in half a day fc costing from $30 to $150, according to size and 
finish. This grate consumes about the same amount of coal as an ordinary grate, and gives 
out a softer, healthier, and greater amount of heat, by at least one fourth. The same house 
imports French and English Grates, Fire Irons, Fenders, Screens, Andirons, Dog 
Grates, besides having an extensive manufactory of their own of Cooking Ranges, Warm 
Air Corrugated Cast Iron Furnaces and Parlor Grates, for public and private buildings, 
with Registers, Ventilators, etc. They have recently patented the 

C3-A.S LOG- PIBE-PLACE, 

Costing from $12 
to $25, and last¬ 
ing a lifetime, re¬ 
sembling an old- 
fashioned fire-place 
piled up with hick¬ 
ory logs, all aglow 
with a brightly 
burning flame, sup¬ 
plied by a gas pipe, 
at a cost of 10 cents 
an hour, with gas 
a> $3.00 a thousand 
cubic feet. It is 
kindled in an in¬ 
stant, and extin¬ 
guished as soon 
without dust or 
smoke, or odor of 
gas, for this goes up 
the chimney. The 
eheeriness of a par¬ 
lor thus warmed 
and enlivened, is 
incalculably prefer¬ 
able to the funereal 
gloominess of mod¬ 
ern reception- 
rooms, with an atmosphere at once heavy, noisome, and oppressive. Address, 

THOS. S. DIXON & SONS, 1321 Chestnut St., Philadelphia. 

Eastern Acients. —George E. Woodward, 191 Broadway, New York; Peck Sperry, New 
Haven, Ct.; D. S. Brooks & Sons, Hartford, Ct.; Murdock & Co., Boston ; 0. M. & D. VV. Nash 
Portland, M J. 





















































































































































































THE 




EQU 


Life Assurance i . 

OF THE UNITED STATES, 


120 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 


Cash Assets, - - $18,000,000.00 

Annual Cash Income, - $8,000,000.00 


The Equitable is now transacting a larger business than any 
Life Insurance Company in America or Europe, and presents 
unequalled advantages to its policy-holders. 


All the surplus premiums returned to the Policy-holders at the end 

of each year. 


President, 

WILLIAM C. ALEXANDER. 

Secretary, 

SAMUEL BORROWE. 

Actuary, 

GEORGE W. PHILLIPS. 


Vice-President s 9 

HENRY B. HYDE, 
JAMES W. ALEXANDER. 

Ass’t Secretary, 

WILLIAM ALEXANDER. 

Auditor, 

WILLIAM P. HALSTED. 


Established 1835. 

B0ERICKE & TAFEL HOMOEOPATHIC PHARMACY 

AND MEDICAL PUBLISHING HOUSE, 

145 pRAND pTREET, JIEW JORK. 

Medicine chests of solid mahogany, containing a selection of forty Remedies are $5.00 


Same style of case with sixty-live Remedies are. 0.00 

Same style of case with eighty-six Remedies are...10.00 

Same style of case with one hundred and thi.ee Remedies are.12*00 


The first case is adapted to any Horn. work. The second case is (65 vials ) specially adapt¬ 
ed to Dr. Hering’s Horn. Domestic, price $2.50. The third case (86 vials) to Dr. Small’s 
Manual of Horn, Practice, price $3. And the fourth case (103 vials) to Laurie & McClutc- 
hey’s work on Domestic Medicine, price $5. 

Either of the above cases will be sent carefully packed per express, to any address on 
receipt of price. Books are mailed, postage free on receipt of price. Address as above. 














DID YOU EVEE GO HOME AT 
NIGHT, 

tired and exhausted with a hard 
day’s la'oor at the desk, or thebench, 
or on the building: — actually too 
tired to eat — only wanting a com¬ 
fortable place to rest; and of all 
the chairs in the house, front the 
split bottom in the kitchen to the 
$30 or $50 upholstered chair in the 
parlor, did you ever find a truly 
comfortable one that supported you 
just where you needed it ? 


ID YOU EVEE PUT YOUE 

This is the way O'Hara's^ Chair supports you when at work at the or a pilloW( of a look, or a coat 


Desk or Sewing-Machine. 


up the hollow in your back which the chair back 
would not fit? 


rolled up, behind you, to try to fill 


DID YOU EVEE SIT AT A DESS, 

or a sewing-machine, or a jeweller’s bench all day 
long, with such a weak, aching back, and wish¬ 
ing that some clever fellow would invent a com¬ 
fortable chair that would support you just where 
you wanted it, and keep you from assuming such 
a bent, drooping position, that always brought on 
a weak, gone feeling in your breast, in addition to 
the almost intolerable backache ? 


DID YOU EVEE SIT IN A 
HOTEL CHAIE 

and pour inverted blessings on the 
head cf the man that made it, while 
the sharpest edge of the hardest cor¬ 
ner of the thing nearly cut you in 
two ? 


DID YOU EVEE TEAVEL ON 
A STEAMBOAT 

With nothing to do but to wear out 
the widest part of your pantaloons, 
and saw your backbone in two on 
one of those bent hickory instru¬ 
ments of torture called chairs, the 
prominent part of which always 
persisted in being just where you 
didn't want it ? 


IF SO, BEAD ON. 

The Working Man, the Delicate Woman, the Cler¬ 
gy, the Clerks, the Editors, the Jewellers, the Liter¬ 
ary Men, the Setving-Machinists, and the hosts of 
others who sit most of the time, will hail with de- 
- light an invention that pronfises to deliver them 
from the back-breaking, heathenish, torturing in¬ 
struments called chairs, which utterly fail to give 
support where it is needed 


THE MOST DEEADFUL OF ALL DIS¬ 
EASES, 

Consumption, finds in the ordinary chair—which 
permits the body to assume a bent, dropping po i- 
tion—one of its most effective allies ; and thou¬ 
sands can trace the first symptoms of this insidious 
disease to their protracted sitting in an ordinary 
chair. 


This is the loay O'Hara's Chair supports you at ease — 
to talk , to read , or to think. 


O'HARA’S COMFORTABLE CHAIR, 

Patented. .A.pril 30, 1.&72, 

For common every-day use. Is the only chair ever invented that affords a perfect support as you lean forward at tb« 
desk or sewing-machine, and can in an instant be converted into a comfortable reading chair, in which your back is 
supported in its entire length, and just where you want it. Can be made in all styles, from.the split-bottom to the 
finest parlor chair, and is destined ultimately to entirely supersede the old-fashioned instruments of torture called 
chairs. Is endorsed by leading physicians, authors, and editors everywhere. Prices as low as any other chair vt 
lame finish. Sold by dealers generally. If you cannot find them, address 

THE CHAS. M. O’HABA COMFOBTABTE CITAIB CO., 

3rIi]ls‘boro, Q- 











































































































































9 



J, S& E. BROOKS, Proprietors, 

JS T os. 13 & 13 PARK ROW, New York. 

-- 


We solicit from friends, personal and political, and from the business public, a continued 
interest in the Express, and in its Daily, Semi-Weekly, and Weekly issues. It is thirty-seven yean 
since the Daily Express commenced in this city with its present proprietors, and in all that time it 
has been earnestly devoted to the Union, the Equality of States, the rights of the people, a Consti¬ 
tutional Government, the maintenance of Law and order, the diffusion of Knowledge, and to what¬ 
ever will secure the greatest good of the greatest number of people. We also believe in what is tried 
and good, rather than what is vascillating and revolutionary. In these times of official corruption 
and private extravagance, it becomes more and more the duty of the press to expose dishonesty and 
to maintain the truth. 

To that portion of the people, therefore, who believe in a stable Government, good men, good 
laws, an economical and honest Government, and in equal and exact justice, we appeal for that 
measure of public favor which is due to the principles we avow. 

The Express we shall aim to make more and more, in all its departments, a thorough national 
and Local newspaper—a Home Journal for the Family— a Political Newspaper for the Politician— 
a Financial and Business Journal for the Banker and man of business. And for the rest, in the 
future as in the past, the Express must speak for itself. 

The Evening Express having a large circulation among visitors to, and business men in the 
city, is especially worthy of the attention of all classes of advertisers. 

In this respect we commend it especially to advertisers who expect to attract the attention of 
strangers in the city, and of permanent residents. 


TEE, m: s . 

THE NEW YORK DAILY EXPRESS, SEMI-WEEKLY EXPRESS, and the WEEKLY 
EXPRESSj for 1873, will be published upon the following terms: 


THE EVENING’EXPRESS. 


Single Copy.4 cents 

City Subscribers, served by Carriers, per 

week.24 cents 


Mail Subscribers, one year 

Six Months. 

Price to Newsdealers. 


.$9 00 

. 5 00 

$3 00 per 100 


THE SEMI-WEEKLY EXPRESS. 


One Copy, one year (104 issues).$3 00 

Six Months. . 2 00 

Two Copies, one year. 5 00 


Five Copies, one year. 

Ten Copies, one year. 

Twenty-five Copies to one address, 


$12 
. 23 
, 40 


00 

00 

00 


THE WEEKLY EXPRESS. 


One year, one Copy (52 issues).$1 50 

Six Months. 1 00 

Three Copies, one year. 4 04 


Five Copies, one year. 

Ten Copies, one year. 

Fifty Copies to one address 


$6 00 
12 00 
50 00 


An extra copy will be sent to any person who sends us a club of 10 or over. 

•To Clergymen, the Weekly will be sent for $1.00 per annum. 

Four Editions of the Evening Express are published at 1.30, 2.30, 3.30, and 4.30 o’clock. 

With the latest Political, Commercial, and Marine News. 

The latest News by Telegraph from all parts of the United States and Europe. 

The latest Intelligence received by Mail. 

The latest Domestic and Foreign Markets. 

Late Religious, Agricultural, and Dramatic News. . 

The latest Law Reports, and with the very latest News from the adjoining Cities, Towns, and 
all the States of the Union. 

Also, a complete dady record of Stocks and of the Money Market to the last hour. 

We particularly call the attention of Farmers and Merchants in all parts of the country to our 
Local Market and Business Reports, which are now very complete, also daily arrivals at the principal 
Hotels of the city. 

The Semi-Weekly and Weekly editions will have all the news of the week, up to the hour of • 
going to press. 

Remit by Draft, Post-Office Money Order or Registered Letter, otherwise we cannot be responsible. 

Specimen copies sent free on application, and as many as may be wanted. 

The NEW YORK EXPRESS has been enlarged to thirty-six columns. Address, 


107 o. 


J. & E. BROOKS, 

15 PARK ROW, New York. 





























PARALYSIS, 

And other Affections of the Nerves with their Cure by Vibratory and Special 
Movements, by George H. Taylor, M. D., Published and sold for $1. by mail, by 8. R. 
Wells, 389 Broadway, New Tork. 

Exposition of the Sweedish Movement Cure, $1.50, by the same’ Author and Publisher, 
exhibiting the general principles of the system and its adaptation to the restoration and 
maintenance of health, their applicability to home use, with examples showing how and 
why they are beneficial in special cases of disease and debility. 

Diseases of Women, Their Causes, Prevention and Cure, by the same Author, published 
by George Maclean, at Philadelphia, New Tork and Boston, and sent post paid for two 
dollars. 

These publications are the results of the observations and successful practice of Dr. Tay¬ 
lor for the last twenty years in the city of New York, where he has secured and maintained 
the confidence and respect of the Medical profession and the admiration of many who are 
indebted to him and his wise and judicious and kindly skill for a new lease of life and busi¬ 
ness activity. Eminent men and women throughout the country bear willing testimony to 
success in their cases, which in some instances is little less than wonderful. Narrations are 
given in these books, illustrating the efficiency of the “ Movement Cure” in restoring to 
healthful activity those who have suffered from various forms of paralysis ; some could not 
control the motion of their limbs, others could not move them at all; others again could not 
feel the pricking of a pin, while some were afflicted with a distressing numbness or other 
forms of pain and yet were restored to health. 

Dr. Taylor’s success has been such that his business requires new and more commodious 
quarters, which he is now erecting within a few rods of Central Park on Madison, second 
only to Fifth Avenue in the spacious elegance of its private and public structures, on the 
same block with the Knickerbocker Hotel on Fifth Avenue, the most extensive building of 
the kind in the Metropolis. Dr. Taylor also contemplates arrangements by which persons 
coming under his charge can find under his roof a better home at a less cost than at the 
best Hotels. 

Illustrations are also given of the efficiency of the “Movement Cure” in a great variety of 
uterine diseases, misplacements and “versions” together with the successful treatment of all 
forms of disturbance connected with the menstrual functions, without the use of medicines 
or the employment of local applications. The methods of developing and strengthening the 
chest and lungs are worthy of special attention from the gratifying results which usually fol¬ 
low their observance. Hence the publishers commend the books of Doctor Taylor to the 
medical profession of all schools as well as to the intelligent classes who may have occasion 
for their teachings. Address, 

S. R. WELLS, 

389 BROADWAY, HEW YORK, 




The following system of constructing Artificial Dentures (devised by J. Allen), combiner 
four important advantages: not previously attained. 

First.—B y means of a beautiful flesh-colored enamel, the Teeth are garnished with an 
artificial gum, roof, and rugae of the mouth (without seam or crevice), with all the delicate 
tints and shades peculiar to those of nature. 

Second.— A truthful expression is given to the Teeth by arranging them either symmetri¬ 
cally or irregularly, as different persons may require. 

Third. —The sunken portions of the face can be restored by means of attachments or 
prominences, made upon the denture, of such form and size as to meet the requirements of 
each particular case. 

Fourth.—N o metal plate or unnatural appearing substance can be seen in the mouth of 
the wearer, when laughing, singing or yawning. 

In short the undersigned copy from nature, in thus truthfully representing the dental or¬ 
gans, and restoring the natural form and expression of the mouth and face. 

J\ ALLEN SON. 


The following Official Reports (with corresponding Awards) from Europe and America, 
together with many others of like import which have been received, indicate the relative 
merits of this system. 

Report from the Paris Universal Exposition, 1867. 

Class XI., Group II, 

The Jury on Denistry at the Camp de Mars report that: “ The speciments of Continuous 
Gum Sets of Teeth, upon Enameled Platinum Plates, by J. Allen & Son, of New York, 

ARE INCOMPARABLY THE MOST BEAUTIFUL-PIECES EXHIBITED.” 

Le Ministre , 

Vice-President de la Commission Imperiale , 

DE FOKEADE. 

Paris, la ler, Juillet 1867. 

Le Conseiller d' Etat Commisstarire General, 

F. De PLAY. 


ftEfOfiT 




BIT 


i 


American Institute, 

New York City, October, 1867. 
“ Case No. 508, Mounted Artificial Teeth on Platinum Base, by J. Allen & Son, No. 23 
Bond Street, New York City. 

THE EJE1ST OlV EXHIBITION. 

Their Merits are Strength, Durability, Clealiness, and Adaption to every conceivable physi¬ 
ognomical requirement of the Teeth and color of the Gums.” 

HORACE GREELEY. President. 

JOHN W. CHAMBERS, Recording Secretary. 

SAMUEL D. TILLMAN, Corresponding Secretary. 

The following COMPLIMENTARY CARD from Paris corroborates the foregoing Reports: 

Paris, December 26, 1867. 

The undersigned Dentists hereby certify that they examined all the Artificial Dentures ex¬ 
hibited at the Universal Exhibition of 1867, in this city, and they unhesitatingly state that the 
specimens of “Continuous Gum” work exhibited by Dr. John Allen & Son, of New York 
were, beyond comparison , the finest on exhibition. 

D. J. B. RALENSTEIN, 8 Boul. des Capucines, Paris. 

CHAS. A. DuBOUCHET, M. D., D. D. S., 3 Rue la Paix, Paris. 

E. B. LOUD. 11 Boulevard Malesherbes, Paris. 

DRS. PARMILY, 35 Boul. des Capucines, Paris. 

WM. IMRIS, 42 Rue de Luxembourg. 

NELSON B. GREGORY, 42 Rue de Luxembourg. 

J. W. CRANE, 21 Boul. des Capucines, Paris. 

M. DELAPIERRE, Surgeon Dentist-in-Cliief to Hospitals in Brussels, Belgium. 

Specimens can. be seen at the Room of 

J. Allen & Son, No. IJond Street, New York City, 

J*. S.—A Descriptive Pamphlet can be obtained by sending to the above address . 











02 


PUBLICATIONS OF Dr. W. W. HALL, 

Editor of “Hall’s Journal of Health.” 


►3 > 


S w 


*2 


w 


Sleep; or, Tlie Hygiene of tlie Night. By W. W. Hall, M.D. 

One vol. 12mo, $ 1.50. The contents of the chapters are: Sleeping with the Old;. Deadly Nature 
of Bad Air ; Pure Sleeping Booms; Sleeping in Prisons; Vitiated Chambers; Bodily Emana¬ 
tions; Night Lodgings in Cities; Sleeping with Others; Indulgences of the Night; Business and 
Sound Sleep; Nursing Children at Night; Morning Debilities; Bad Night Habits; Ventilating 
Chambers: Ventilation and House Warming; Ventilation and Longevity; The Brealh of Life: 
Sleeping with Consumptives; Poisonous Chambers; Nervousness, Debilities, etc.; Private Con¬ 
siderations ; Books on Physiology, Manhood, Marriage, etc.; Their Ealse Teachings, their 
Pernicious Effects, and their Corrunting Tendencies. 

Bronchitis an«l Kindred Diseases. By W. W. Hall, M.D. 

In one vol. l2mo, $1.50. Showing the difference between Bronchitis, Consumption, and Chronic 
Laryngitis, or Clergyman's Sore Throat, in a manner so clear and plain as to enable the reader to decide 
for himself which of the diseases he has, with numerous cases in the author’s practice illustrating what 
are curable and what are not, etc., etc. 

Health and Disease as Affected hy Constipation; and its 

TJnmedicinal Cure; By W. W. Hall, M.D. One vol. 12mo, $1.50. Some of the contents of the 
book are: Apoplexy; Anodynes ;. Appetite; Amateur Doctors; Aches and Asthma; Regulation 
of Bowels; Bad Breath ; Brown Bread; Binding Food; Costiveness; Cleanliness; Chilliness at 
Meals; Coffee ; Change of Clothing ; Cooling off Slowly; Cracked Wheat; Dyspeosia; Drinking 
at Meals; Flannel; Fainting; Horseback Exercise; Hoe Cake; Hominy; Late Dinners ; Over-, 
Fatigue; Patent Medicines; Stockings; Spectacles; Toasted Bread; Teeth; Corn Bread. 

Health hy Good laving. By W. W. Hall, M.D. 

One vol. 12mo, $1.50. Some of the subjects treated are: The Object of Eating; Power to Work; 
Early Breakfast; Dinner-time; Luncheon; Eating “ Down Town; What Shall a Man Do; 
What Shall Fat Men Eat; How to Get Fat; Bad Blood; Diet for the Sick ; Spring Diseases ; 
Children’s Eating: Forcing Children to Eat; Young Ladies’ Eating; Cold Feet and Headache; 
Biliousness* A Lazy Liver; Mischievous Tonics; The Out-door Air ; Why are we Dyspeptic ? 
Discomfort’After Eating; Cole Slaw; Certain Cure for Neuralgia; Nervous Debility ; Air, etc. 

Coughs and Colds; or, The Prevention, Cause, and Cure 

of Various Affections of the Throat. With cases illustrating the remarkable efficacy of out-door 
aotivitv and horseback exercise in permanently arresting the progress of diseases ol the chest. 
Bv W "w Hall M D. In one vol. 12mo, $1.50. Some of the contents of the book are: Air 
and Exercise: Asthma; Bad Colds; Brandy Drinking; Consumption; Croup; Chronic Laryn¬ 
gitis 1 Eruptions; Expectoration; Eating and Exercise ; Fatigue; Hectic: Horseback Exercise, 
Tmnure Air * Inhalation; Night Sweats; Occupation in Consumption ; Porter Drinking; Sum- 
Complaint; Sea-voyage; Sea-s hore; Southern Climate; Tig ht Lacing; Throat Ail; Tonics. 

ALSO : 

Evervbodies’ Life Preserver. Being some twelve hundred short sayings in reference 
lo hPoPh and disease of mind and body, as well as to the affairs of practical life, its various 
callings^pnifestions^and pursuits. 12mcf’$1.50. Also, the volumes of Mali’s Journal of 
Health, bound uniformly in muslin, $1.50 ; the twenty volumes will be sold for $~0. 
HALL’S JOURNAL OF HEALTH is published monthly,'at $1.50 per year. Also, 
nri.p r..idA.Kn 9 r<l to Mealtli, Peace, and Competence; or, The Road to a 
®Old Ag? 742 pages, Bvo. Sold oy subscription only, for $5.00. This volume cannot be 
Sitafned atariySook store; is sent by mail at the subscription price. Its value may be known from 
the fact that in less than three years after its first issue the sales amounted to over fifty thousand 
dollars, with an increasing demand. 

.... Wrt.SK> 777 pa^es 8vo, $5.00. Sold by subscription only. The retail price 

I! f^ t p a hnvr osvols is $49 00 ; the whole set may be had for $37.00, by sending the amount in a 
° ? a nr bank check to R S. Hall, 54 East Thirty-fourth Street, New York, or by 

persomfli^licution at ^ n ^ces-°of'them^a^folIfW^Of‘^Healtli by’Gooi^Living!” 

JtoguSStht D? Clfone S Se°St men in the world, ind this book confirms our j udgmonk" 

“"ofTiSoDiDE to Health, Peace and Competence, the following are some 

of the testimonials : nnd ndanted to every class. It is destined to have 

The “ Guide Board is oSht to be circulated far and wid e.-Neio York Observer. 

an extensive circ^ation.—7 bought the “Guide Board,” giving it their 

....Thirteen of the leading Physicians mNew > Besfc physicians in Saginaw City, Michigan, snb- 
hcarty approval and recommendation . .^Skvi^n o e y k and p rac tise the teachings of this 

scribed for this work and cord^lly recommended auto reau, j ^ justi > fied in recommending ‘The 

most excellent book.”....DR. H ^^®K°„^ 1 a ii 1 f am ' l 1 iieswho feel interested in the welfare of the rising 
GUIDE BOARD TO HEAfiTH’to my to^ds acquisition in every family.”.... “ The 

generation. It will be found an admirab 1 e, oon\er tiong< in fami fiar language and free from medical 
Guide Board” contains an abmidance of Practical a l blc advice0 n many points of morals, busi- 


ip 

i—i 

o 


6 


id 










THE 


EKLY WITNESS. 

OHE DOLLAR FES. ANNUM. 


This paper, of which the second volume will begin with the new year, con 
tains Forty-eight Columns, filled with the choicest reading matter, arranged 
somewhat as follows: 

1st.—About twelve columns of editorials and other original articles, many 
of the latter by able writers. Among those who have already contributed arti¬ 
cles to the Witness are the Rev. Dr. John Hall, Rev. Dr. Ormiston, Rev. Dr. 
Deems, and Rev. Dr. Taylor, of New York; Rev. Dr. McCosh, President of 
Princeton College; General O. O. Howard, Washington; Rev. Newman Hall, 
London; Rev. Dr. Wilkes, Montreal, and several other gentlemen of note. 

2d.—About twelve columns are filled with selections from the editorial arti¬ 
cles of the great New York dailies ( Herald , Tribune , Times, and World), and 
from the leading weekly religious papers. The ablest writers of the day are thus 
made to contribute to the interest and value of the Witness. 

3d.—About twelve columns are filled with tales and selections from American 
and British magazines, religious weeklies, Ac., all instructive and interesting for 
the various members of the family, including the young. 

4th.—About twelve columns are filled with News, Reports of Meetings, 
(including the Fulton-Street Daily Prayer Meeting), Piices Current, and a few 
Advertisements. 

Pages could be filled with highly favorable notices of the press and letters 
received from subscribers, but all we ask is a trial, and to that end subscriptions 
of 25 cents will be received for a quarter of a year, or from now till the New Year. 

The Witness contains, to say the least, as much and as valuable matter as 
the weeklies at $2.00 to $3.00, and it will be readily seen that at one dollar it 
can neither afford premiums nor pictures. It relies upon the recommendations 
of those who read it, and requests the co-operation of Christians of all denomina¬ 
tions to diffuse a cheap religious Newspaper throughout the Union. 

The following is the platform, copied from the prospectus of the New York 
Daily Witness, when it was issued, on 1st June, 1871, which is equally appli¬ 
cable to the Weekly Witness : 

PLATFORM. 

The Witness will be on the same platform with regard to religion as the 
Evangelical Alliance and Young Men’s Christian Association; with regard to 
temperance, as the American Temperance Society; with regard to human rights, 
irrespective of color, as the American Missionary Association; with respect to 
treatment of animals, as Mr. Bergh; and it will regard political questions only 
from a Christian standpoint. 

The Daily Witness is $3.00 per annum. Any one remitting for eight 
Weekly Witnesses, or $8.00 for Daily and Weekly Witness, will be entitled 
to a gratis copy of Weekly. All communications to be addressed to the under¬ 
signed, to whom all money orders are to be made payable. 

JOHN 330TJ GALL, 

Proprietor Daily YVitness, 

162 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK, 


W YORK W 





THE FARMERS’ 



THE GREAT FARM AND STOCK 
RAISING JOURNAL OF THE 
BLUE GRASS REGION 
OF KENTUCKY, 

W ILL be more entertaining and instructive than ever before. It 
■will furnish practical information on every branch of Agricul¬ 
ture, and keep its readers fully advised concerning the breeding and 
rearing of Thoroughbred Horses, Cattle, &c., in the Blue Glass 
Region j their Management, Sales, &c.j &c. 

THE TDRF DEPARTMENT 

Will give prompt and reliable intelligence in regard to. Thorough¬ 
breds 'and Trotters, important Races, Trial Runs, and time made; 
Diseases of Animals and their Treatment, and Stock Gossip generally. 

It has eight large pages, and, with other matter, gives a great 
deal of choice and varied miscellany, making it 

One of the Best Family Papers in the Country. 


TERMS, $2.00 in Advance. 

FKEE TO ANT ABBBESS FOE, ONE MONTH. 

address, 

DUNCAN & GIBSON, 

LEXINGTON, KY. 

































vcnTr^! 






MEMORY 

JcXuTyO 


"tNESS 




^nti |y <<y 

MSUA&E i 




Names of the Faculties. 


1. Amativeness. —Connubial love, affection. 

A. Conjugal Love.—U nion for life, pairing instinct. 

2. Parental Love. —Care of offspring, and all young. 
8. Friendship.— Sociability, union of friends. 

4. Inhabitiveness. —Love of home and country. 

5. Continuity.—A pplication, consecutiveness. 


B. Vitativeness.— Clinging to life, tenacity. 
6 Combativeness. — Defense, courage. 

7. Destructiveness. —Executiveness. 

8. Alimentiveness.— Appetite for food,etc. 

9. Acquisitiveness.— Frugality, economy. 

10. Secretiveness.— Self-control, policy. 

11. Cautiousness.— Guardedness, safety. 

12. Approbativeness.— Love of applause. 

13. Self-Esteem.— Self-respect, dignity. 

14. Firmness.— Stability, perseverance. 

15. Conscientiousness.— Sense of right. 

16. Hope.— Expectation, anticipation. 

17. Spirituality.— Intuition, prescience. 

18 Veneration —Worship, adoration. 

19 Benevolence.— Sympathy, kindness. 

2Q. CoNfeTRUCTiVENEss. — Ingenuity, tools. 
21. Ideality.— Taste, love of beauty, poetry. 
B. Sublimity.— Love of the grand, vast. 

22 Imitation,— Copying, aptitude. 

23. Mirth.— Fun, wit, ridicule, facetiousness. 

24. Individuality.— Observation, to see. 


25. Form.— Memory, shape , looks, persons. 

26. Size.—M easurement of quantity, 

27. Weight. —Control of motion, balancing. 

28. Color.— Discernment, and love of color. 

29. Order.— Method , system, going by rale . 

30. Calculation.— Mental arithmetic. 

31. Locality. —Memory of place, position. 

32. Eventuality.—M emory of facts, events. 

33. Time.— Telling when, time of day, dates. 

34. Tune.—L ove of music, singing. 

35. Language.— Expression by words, acts. 

36. Causality.— Planning, thinking. 

37. Comparison.—A nalysis, inferring. 

C. Human Nature.—S agacity. 

D. Suavity.— Pleasantness, blandness. 


For complete definitions of all the organs 
of the brain, and all the features of the face, 
see New Physiognomy by S. R. Wells, 
with 1,000 illustrations. Price, post-paid, $5, 
$8, and $10, according to styles of binding. 




































i 



Assets Dec.. 31, 1072, - S3 302 01 ■ 


OmCMBS i 

PRESIDENT, 

JUSTUS LAWRENCE. 

VICE-PRESTDENT, 

M. B. WYNKOOP. 

SECRETARY, 

J. P. ROGERS. 

ACTUARY, 

S. C. CHANDLER, Jr. 

MEDICAL EXAMINER, 

E. HERRICK, M. D. 

COUNSEL, 

WHITNEY & JONES. 

JAMES B. COLGATE. Trevor & Colgate, Bankers. 

CIIAUNCEY M. DEPEW. late Secretary of State. 

JUSTUS LAWRENCE. President. 

G. HILTON SCRIBNER. 139 Broadway. 

JOSEPH T. SANGER. Merchant, 45 Liberty Street. 

M. B. WYNKOOP. Wynkoop & IIallenbeck. 

HENRY C. FISH, D. D. Newark, N. J. 

RICHARD W. BOGART.0. M. Bogart & Co., Bankers. 

LUTHER W. FROST. NewYoek. 































































